‘Tomb Raider’ Reboot Justifies Its Existence, Casts Walton Goggins as the Villain

If you had any doubt about the necessity, validity, integrity or any other –ity of the new Tomb Raider movie, this bit of casting news should immediately mitigate any and all of your concerns. Walton Friggin’ Goggins has joined the cast of the upcoming reboot, in which he’ll play — oh come on, like we need to even tell you — the film’s villain. And with that piece of casting, Tomb Raider was just elevated from “Yeah, sure, I guess I’ll see this movie at some point” to “Can I pre-order my tickets now or nah?”

Variety reports that former Justified star and all-time bad guy MVP Walton Goggins is in final negotiations to join Alicia Vikander in the new Tomb Raider movie, based on the prolific video game series. Vikander will play the lead role of protagonist Lara Croft, an adventurous archaeologist who searches for valuable ancient artifacts around the world. Specific details for Goggins’ role have yet to be revealed, though he is playing the primary antagonist in the film.

Vikander and Goggins is one of those great unimaginable pairings that makes you wonder why you never thought of it yourself — like Molly Shannon and Tracy Letts as a married couple on HBO’s Divorce, or Geena Davis and Alan Ruck on FOX’s The Exorcist, or even Goggins and Danny McBride on Vice Principals (I watch a lot of TV, okay?) — basically Goggins and anyone, really.

Roar Uthaug, the Norwegian director behind acclaimed action-thriller The Wave, is helming the Tomb Raider reboot, which is scheduled to hit theaters on March 16, 2018.