'The Equalizer' director shares key update on series future

The Equalizer's future parts may see a de-aged Denzel Washington, thanks to AI, if director Antoine Fuqua has his way.

The Emancipation filmmaker expressed his ideas in an NME interview: "I definitely thought about it a lot. Especially now with the new technology and the AI and all of that kind of stuff… Is there a story to be told about how [McCall] became this person – the younger version. I’ve had that conversation with Richard Wenk [who co-wrote all three Equalizer films] quite a bit.”

As Hollywood studios are flirting with artificial intelligence, which in turn rubbed the writers and, now, actors in the wrong way, the 57-year-old added he has yet to reach a decision on the matter, noting that Washington's views remained unclear on the divisive topic.

“I haven’t talked to Denzel about that yet,” he continued. “It’s all so fresh and new. I’m still watching [the technology]. I’ve watched Harrison Ford’s film and I know there’s other movies coming out.”

Adding, “I think Sony has one coming out with Tom Hanks soon [Robert Zemeckis’ Here]. And I’m hearing the technology is getting better and better and better. So I’m kind of watching it to see where it goes.”

Starting in 2014, Washington was seen as ex-spy Robert McCall, who tackled the bad guys on his turf in the action thriller series.

The latest Equalizer 3 will open in theaters on Sept. 1.