Sicario: From the Myth of the Hitman to the Brutal Reality

There’s something about the word sicario that just sticks with you. Directly translated from Spanish, it means "hitman," but in the real world—and on screen—it covers something far more complex. It's the shadow that operates in the no-man's-land between law and anarchy. Right now, we're witnessing a massive resurgence of interest in this phenomenon. On one hand, Sicario 2: Soldado is blazing across TV screens again, and on the other, we're reminded that contract killings, unfortunately, aren't just something that happens in Hollywood. In fact, the real-life stories are closer than most of us realize.

Soldado Rocks the Screen – And Capos is on the Way

If you've watched TV recently, you've probably noticed Sicario 2: Soldado being aired again. That 2018 film, directed by Stefano Sollima, took a turn away from the first film's moral compass (goodbye, Emily Blunt's Kate Macer) and instead dove deep into the muck with Benicio Del Toro's Alejandro and Josh Brolin's ice-cold Matt Graver. It's a gritty affair where the lines between agent and hitman have long been erased. And for those of us who can't get enough of that universe, there's good news: according to sources close to the production, producer Basil Iwanyk has confirmed that Sicario 3 is still in the works. The working title is reportedly Sicario: Capos, and the concept is so compelling that they've just been waiting for the right moment to finish writing it. Del Toro is set to return as the enigmatic Alejandro—a character you simply never get tired of watching. Rumors are swirling that both Brolin and Blunt are also ready to jump back in if everything falls into place.

• Sicario (2015): Denis Villeneuve's masterpiece that introduces us to agent Kate Macer's nightmare.
• Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018): The war escalates, and Alejandro is sent on an impossible mission.
• Sicario: Capos (2026/2027?): The upcoming third film, set to bring us back to the front lines.

More Than Movies: When the Hitman Came to India

But it's not just on the big screen that the word sicario resonates. We don't have to look far to find stories that could have been written by Taylor Sheridan. Recently, we read about a 34-year-old gang leader who has now been charged with ordering a contract killing in Mumbai back in 2021. An innocent 22-year-old man was killed simply because he was sitting in the wrong place. It wasn't meant for him, but that's how merciless reality can be. According to information that emerged during the investigation, the criminal network hired contract killers from Delhi to do the dirty work. It's hardcore realism that matches the darkest fictional narratives.

On the same day, it came to light that a man received a life sentence for acting as a hitman in India. He was hired by unknown masterminds to carry out a job that, thankfully, went wrong. This shows that the phenomenon of the American Sicario (also the title of a recent film with Danny Trejo about the first American-born drug lord in Mexico) isn't confined to the Americas. The hitman's shadow falls far and wide, even across Indian streets.

What makes a great Sicario universe so unsettling is precisely this mix. We see fiction playing out with new films on the way, while at the same time we can open an Indian newspaper and read about a hitman being charged in a Delhi court. It's as if the line between the world we see on screen and the world we live in is becoming increasingly porous. And that's exactly why we remain fascinated—because we sense that just below the surface, the same darkness that Alejandro navigates is simmering.

So, the next time you see Soldado playing on screen, or you're looking forward to Capos hitting the cinema, just remember that hitmen aren't just something we see in movies. They are a part of our reality, and the stories from both the Mexico-US border and our own cities show that the sicario phenomenon is more relevant than ever.