This Tom Hardy Netflix movie is now my most anticipated action-thriller of 2025 — here's why
Consider me hyped for 'Havoc'
Netflix started production on "Havoc" all the back in 2021. But now, we're finally getting a release date window for the Tom Hardy action-thriller.
The streaming service unveiled a first look at the upcoming movie directed by Garth Evans earlier today, not long after it had initially been revealed by Empire. This first look doesn't give us much beyond Tom Hardy looking awesome, but it did reveal the official release window for "Havoc."
Yes, "Havoc" is finally coming next year, and it's now my most anticipated action-thriller of 2025. This is no small part due to the loaded cast, which aside from Hardy includes Xelia Mendes-Jones (of "Fallout"), Forest Whitaker and Timothy Olyphant. Frankly, you had me at Timothy Olyphant, but there's no denying that this cast is set up for action-thriller success.
Especially with Evans directing, which is the biggest reason I'm so excited for this Netflix movie.
Evans is most well known for 2011's "The Raid," which for those who haven't seen it is a phenomenal martial arts action film. While it didn't hit the same level of success as the "John Wick" films, those who love the genre revere it on a similar level as the Keanu Reeves franchise. In fact, Yayan Ruhina, who starred in "The Raid" and "The Raid 2" appears in "John Wick 3," considered as the gun-fu movie paying homage to Evan's Indonesian action masterpiece.
So between Hardy leading a stacked cast and Evans behind the camera, I'd be truly shocked if "Havoc" doesn't live up to the hype. Even if it took four years to finally get here.
Everything we know about 'Havoc' so far
"Havoc" stars Tom Hardy as Walker, a cop tasked with rescuing Johnny (Xelia Mendes-Jones), the nephew of the city's mayor (Forest Whitaker). To do that he needs to navigate through the seedy underbelly of the broken city, most likely encountering plenty of violence along the way.
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Evans describes Hardy's performance as Walker as "intensely muscular" and says that the hardened detective is essentially "on cleanup duty." We don't know much beyond that, except for Evan's hint that Walker's mission "doesn’t go well for a long time." I can't wait for the first trailer to see just how bad things get.
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Malcolm McMillan is a senior writer for Tom's Guide, covering all the latest in streaming TV shows and movies. That means news, analysis, recommendations, reviews and more for just about anything you can watch, including sports! If it can be seen on a screen, he can write about it. Previously, Malcolm had been a staff writer for Tom's Guide for over a year, with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), A/V tech and VR headsets.
Before writing for Tom's Guide, Malcolm worked as a fantasy football analyst writing for several sites and also had a brief stint working for Microsoft selling laptops, Xbox products and even the ill-fated Windows phone. He is passionate about video games and sports, though both cause him to yell at the TV frequently. He proudly sports many tattoos, including an Arsenal tattoo, in honor of the team that causes him to yell at the TV the most.