Here’s why Emily Blunt didn’t return to reprise her role as FBI agent Kate Macer in Sicario: Day of the Soldado, the sequel to Sicario. Blunt had gained critical recognition for her performance in Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 actioner, as Agent Macer as she is enlisted by a government task force to help with the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico. Specifically, Kate is sent to eradicate a drug cartel that was responsible for the deaths of her team members. Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin starred in Sicario alongside Blunt, and their performances were also praised.
Sicario grossed $46.9 million in North America and posted a worldwide total of $84.9 million and its box office success somewhat inevitably led Taylor Sheridan to write a sequel, directed by Stefano Sollima. Sicario: Day of the Soldado was released in 2018 and continued to tell the harrowing and violent story of the drug war at the U.S.-Mexico border, detailing the U.S. government’s attempt to incite conflict among cartels. And while some of the key cast returned, there was one notable missing name.
In Sicario 2, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin reprised their respective roles as Alejandro Gillick and Matt Graver and they were joined by fellow original movie stars Jeffrey Donovan and Raoul Trujillo also reprised their roles. Blunt, though, did not end up returning to take on the role of Kate Macer for a second time. Instead, new characters were introduced, played by new cast members Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Isabela Moner, and Catherine Keener. That much was strange considering that at first, producers Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill stated that Blunt, del Toro, and Brolin would each return to their roles. But it turns out that screenwriter Sheridan didn’t envision Blunt’s character returning for the sequel. So, by the end of 2016, Blunt was no longer attached to the film, and the story went on without Kate Macer.
Sollima, the director of the sequel, told Business Insider in 2018 that there was a concrete reason why they didn’t include the character of Kate Macer in the sequel. “Emily Blunt is an amazing actress, but her role was sort of a moral guidance for the audience,” Sollioma explained. “In Soldado [2], we don’t have that.” Sollima went on to explain his way of storytelling involved not having a moral guide like Kate. Indeed, there is not a lot of virtue to be found in the sequel to Sicario. The characters in the movie don’t play by any rules, and their actions are harsh and unforgiving.
In Sicario 2, viewers are given a deeper look into Mexican drug cartel operations. From the moment the film starts, it pulls audiences into a scene of terrifying chaos, and it certainly doesn’t consider offering them a relatable character with an ethical compass. As it turned out, though, some critics ended up missing Blunt’s character from the original movie. Time magazine’s Stephanie Zacharek, for one, stated that the presence of an emotive character like Blunt’s Kate Macer was missing from Sicario 2. “There’s not a Blunt in sight, though special task force macho men Matt Graver and Alejandro return,” she stated in her review. If, as announced back in 2018, there is to be a third installment, the Sicario franchise needs to bring Emily Blunt back into the story.
