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I truly think that story about the cliffs is so beautiful and it encapsulates so much of what Joe thinks of Nicky. That it’s the story he wants to relate about their current fight that Nicky keeps going, he always jumps.

Joe is terrified of losing him but Nicky’s faith and security in his love and place in the universe, the drive he has, keeps propelling him forward and I think Joe often feels helpless to watch and follow as he can for as long as he can until he is too terrified to go forward. Nicky always comes back. But what if he doesn’t? That is the fear Joe cannot shake.

But he also repeats the memories with a definite fondness and adoration. It isn’t remember how you used to scare the shit out of me, it’s remember how we used to play together and you would win and were fearless. It’s something that he admires and loves about Nicky, not something that is bad. It’s a different approach to how they live life together. Nicky always jumps.

You’d have to think how many times Joe has watched Nicky jump out of faith and left him behind to watch and see if he comes up.

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Joe & Nicky I The Old Guard 2 (2025)

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who's readyyy

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and we will EAT IT UP

the old guard 2 cast: i am so excited to be doing this again

marwan kenzari: prepare to have your heart broken

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TDE: What are the biggest changes or evolutions that audiences can expect from your characters going into this sequel?

Marwan Kenzari: Now, I think that Joe likes to keep the wolf pack together and therefore maybe makes some good moves or not so good moves and that sort puts his relationship with Nicky on a fragile platform so to say, maybe?

[...]

TDE: Marwan, we briefly touched upon this, but Joe and Nicky's love story, it's one for the ages. It's a fan favorite element of these movies, but this sequel kind of explores a whole new side of it. What more can you tease about that and how their love story will blossom?

MK: I mean, in the first movie obviously the emphasis was on how symbiotic and how passionate they loved each other. I think the other side of the coin, for the second one, it would be to tease or to flirt with the idea "could these two also be in a heated argument?" or in a situation where they would, you know, where you would even think they could, would they ever be- could they separate from each other or how would it look like if one would not be immortal or, you know, it's stuff like that we sort of would play around with and try to, in an improvisation, try to get to a conflict instead of to "hey, I love you, I love you, yeah, we are so happy". You know, that's the other part, or the other side of the coin that we sort of try to flirt with.

The Old Guard 2 Cast on Their Character Evolutions & Immortal Relationship Troubles

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But the real emotional heart of the story beats elsewhere: in the profound relationship between Joe and Nicky. And it is exactly Luca Marinelli, playing the latter, who shines with an intense and measured proof that counterpoints the fury of the action. Nicky is the comrade of a thousand battles, the serene face behind a whirlwind that doesn't stop. Marinelli brings a cutting sweetness to the screen, a way of being in the scene that makes the very idea of an immortal love believable. In a world of swords, guns and blood, he is the only one who talks about love without seeming out of place. He's not only half of an immortal couple: he is a beacon, a presence that reminds the others (and us) that it's possible to be warriors without losing the ability to love. It isn't a small thing. It's the difference between surviving and living.

From this review of the movie

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“you have always been one of my most sensitive children” — violet bridgerton

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Since The Old Guard 2 is coming out soon and I've been on a medieval history brainrot for a while now, I've naturally been thinking about a historical version of Joe and Nick. Specifically them from the time of their first deaths in 1099 during the First Crusade. Maybe I'll do historical versions of the other Old Guard members as well. While I was figuring out what they would have looked like, I had some thoughts about their historical specifics. So here's my headcanons based on history:

Military orders (like Knights Templar) were only established as a result of the First Crusade to secure pilgrims to the Crusader kingdoms and wage holy wars, which hadn't really been a thing before the First Crusade. This means that the practicing priests among the crusaders were not part of the military, they were there doing priest stuff, not swinging swords. So my headcanon is that Nicólo is originally from a landlord family and was trained as a knight, but he didn't want the heterosexual feudal lifestyle so he joined the church. And when the First Crusade was called, he left the church and joined the crusade as a knight.

Genoa did participate in the Crusade but with a navy, not with an army, so I wouldn't make sense that Nicólo would have fought under Genoan banner, especially if he died in the Siege of Jerusalem as it's implied. So my headcanon is that he joined the army of Tancred, one of the two Norman led Southern Italian armies which were part of the Crusade. Maybe he was in Rome as a priest to study theology or something when the crusade was called.

Fatimid Caliphate (who held Jerusalem before the First Crusade) were ruling from Egypt. Amazigh from Maghreb were significant part of their cavalry. Originally their cavalry consisted of Kutama tribe from Algeria, but they separated from the caliphate around mid 11th century, so I've decided that Yusuf would be from Libya and I headcanon him as part of the Mazata tribe.

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Marwan Kenzari about JoeNicky and working with Luca Marinelli

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i think my favorite thing about the old guard was how much and how obviously they all LOVED each other. like. the baclava scene. those first hugs between andy, nick and joe. andy cradling booker's face while she begged him to wake up, and the tender forehead-touch when he did. how they all (barring andy, who i assume was taking a guard dog-like position) slept so closely together in the church. how quick they were to all surround andy when they found out about her mortality. how KIND andy was, even when coming out to tell booker what his punishment would be. how they waited and looked to each other in relief every time they died—and how the first thing they thought of when they felt nile's presence was that they had to help her, because they all knew how scared and alone she would be feeling right then. hell, even booker's motivation for his betrayal wasn't the typical scheming double-crosser's motivation; he just wanted to help, to try and give the rest of the guard (mainly he and andy) a means of control—a way to REST. to decide when to stop on their own terms. they weren't just a team of badass immortal soldiers dedicated to protecting the earth; they were friends, with relationships centuries in the making, and it showed. they were a family.

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Dutch Netflix posted this timeline of Joe's life back in 2020:

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Yusuf and Nicolo/ JoeNicky / immortal husbands / kaysanova headers from The Old Guard 2

like or reblog if using || my other old guard edits

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JoeNicky in The Old Guard 2

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The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood

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Missing Dorian Storm Hours