The Old Guard ending explained, with director Gina Prince-Bythewood

Have you devoured The Old Guard on Netflix yet? Of course you have – it's a Charlize Theron-starring superhero movie available to watch at home right now! 

There was action, romance, and a man-baby villain looking to make huge profits through his medical company. We saw the origins of KiKi Layne's new immortal Nile Freeman and even the movie took us back in time to witness a few other major events play out. But what really has people talking is that ending. 

Before we get into The Old Guard ending, a quick warning: Spoilers! This article contains major spoilers for Netflix's The Old Guard!!

Still here? Then you have seen Merrick's demise at the hands of the eponymous superhero group. Merrick had nefarious plans to use the immortal's DNA to produce some sort of treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Which – wait a minute – sounds like a good thing? Well, that's what Chiwetel Ejiofor's Copley thought, too, until Merrick's lust for money came to the fore. Turns out he just wanted to profit from their blood.

In the end, KiKi Layne's Nile Freeman kills Marrick by pushing him out of the window of a very high building, the pair falling together. Luckily, she can resurrect herself – he cannot. The story concludes with Copley showing the gang how they have influenced history over the years, and that he wants to help them to continue to help mankind for good. 

But then, a scene that's basically a post-credits scene but comes before the credits. A pre-credits scene? That's just the movie! Anyway... We see the Matthias Schoenaerts' Booker being drunk and disorderly, having been punished by Theron's Andy for being a turncoat. He's not alone, though, as the mysterious Quynh – played by Veronica Ngo – appears. Lest we forget, she's been trapped at the bottom of the ocean for hundreds of years, having been tried as a witch during the middle ages. 

Unsurprisingly, she doesn't look too happy about how things transpired, and the movie ends with a forboding look at what's to come. During a set of interviews for The Old Guard, GamesRadar+ sat down with director Gina Prince-Bythewood to ask about what's coming next, and how Quynh factors into that.

"It'll be based on the graphic novel," she tells GamesRadar+ of the sequel. "In terms of what Greg has written, Quynh has reared her head, and that causes some issues, absolutely. But also, there's a very grounded story tackling problems within the world, which again brings more villains that are not with immortality, so it's a really cool balance between the two, in the graphic novel."

So, Theron's Andy versus Ngo's Quynh and a bunch of other not-immortal but still very evil villains? Sounds like a recipe for a great sequel. Until then, catch up with all the best Netflix movies currently streaming.