Sicario: From the Myth of the Hitman to the Brutal Reality
There's something about the word sicario that just sticks with you. Literally translated, it means "hitman" in Spanish, but in the real world – and on screen – 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 blazing across TV screens again, and on the other, we're reminded that hitmen, unfortunately, aren't just a Hollywood creation. In fact, the real-life stories are closer than most of us realize.
Soldado is Blazing on Screen – and Capos is on the Way
If you've watched TV recently, you've probably noticed Sicario 2: Soldado airing again. That 2018 film, directed by Stefano Sollima, took a turn away from the first film's moral compass (farewell, 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 experience where the lines between agent and hitman have long since 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 idea is so compelling that they've just been waiting for the right time 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 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 Movies: When the Hitman Came to Denmark
But it's not just on the big screen that the word sicario resonates. We don't have to look further than our own capital city to find stories that could have been written by Taylor Sheridan. The other day, we read about a 34-year-old gang leader who has now been charged with ordering a hitman killing in Christiania back in 2021. An innocent 22-year-old man was killed 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 emerged during the investigation, the Casablanca criminal network hired mercenaries from Sweden to do the dirty work. It's hardcore realism that matches the darkest fictional narratives.
The same day, it was revealed that a 36-year-old Norwegian man received a 13-year prison sentence for acting as a hitman in Denmark. He was hired by unknown masterminds to carry out a job that, fortunately, went wrong. It shows that the phenomenon of the American Sicario (also the title of a recent film with Danny Trejo, telling the story of the first American-born drug lord in Mexico) isn't confined to the New World. The hitman's shadow falls far and wide, even over Danish street corners.
What makes a good Sicario universe so spine-chilling is precisely this blend. We watch fiction unfold with new films on the horizon, while at the same time, we can open a Danish newspaper and read about a hitman indictment in the Copenhagen City 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 below the surface, the same darkness that Alejandro navigates is simmering.
So, the next time you see Soldado rolling across your screen, or you're looking forward to Capos hitting theaters, just remember that hitmen aren't just something we see in movies. They are a part of our reality, and the stories from both Mexico and Nørrebro show that the sicario phenomenon is more relevant than ever.