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

There's just something about the word sicario that sticks with you. Translated directly, it means "hitman" or "assassin" in Spanish, but in the real world – and on film – it covers something far more complex. It's the shadow operating in the no man's land between law and anarchy. Right now, we're seeing a massive resurgence of interest in the phenomenon. On one hand, Sicario 2: Soldado is making the rounds on TV screens again, and on the other, we're reminded that hitmen, unfortunately, aren't just a Hollywood thing. In fact, the real-life stories are closer to home than most of us realise.

Soldado is back on 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 movie's moral compass (bye-bye, Emily Blunt's Kate Macer) and instead dove headfirst into the mud with Benicio Del Toro's Alejandro and Josh Brolin's ice-cold Matt Graver. It's a raw, 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 (meaning "Chiefs" or "Bosses"), and the concept is so good they've just been waiting for the right moment to finish the script. Del Toro is set to return as the enigmatic Alejandro – a character you just never get tired of watching. Rumours are swirling that both Brolin and Blunt are also ready to pick up the thread again 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 just movies: When hitmen came to Singapore

But it's not just on the silver screen that the word sicario resonates. We don't have to look very far to find stories that could have been written by Taylor Sheridan. Just the other day, we read about a 34-year-old gang leader who has now been charged with ordering a hitman killing in Copenhagen back in 2021. An innocent 22-year-old man was killed simply because he was sitting in the wrong seat. It wasn't meant for him, but that's how merciless reality can be. According to information that has come to light during the investigation, the criminal network Casablanca hired hitmen from Sweden to do the dirty work. It's hardcore realism that matches the darkest fiction narratives.

The same day, it was reported that a 36-year-old Norwegian was sentenced to 13 years in prison for acting as a hitman in Denmark. He was hired by unknown masterminds to carry out a job that, fortunately for the target, went wrong. It just goes to show that the phenomenon depicted in American Sicario (also the title of a recent film with Danny Trejo, telling the story of the first American-born drug boss in Mexico) doesn't just belong to the New World. The shadow of the hitman falls far and wide, even landing on our own streets right here in Singapore.

What makes a good Sicario universe so unsettling is precisely this blend. We see fiction playing out with new films on the horizon, while at the same time we can open a local paper and read about a hitman trial in court. It's as if the boundary between the world we see on screen and the world we live in is becoming more and more porous. And that's exactly why we remain fascinated – because we sense that just beneath the surface, the same darkness Alejandro navigates is simmering.

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