In 2027, a cataclysmic solar flare incinerates the Eastern Hemisphere, collapsing civilization and plunging the West into anarchic darkness. A decade later, mercenary relic hunter Jake (Dave Bautista) survives by plundering Europe’s irradiated ruins – until a warlord offers him freedom in exchange for the ultimate prize: Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, hidden deep in the Parisian dead zone. But when Jake discovers a survivor colony tormented by King August’s (Samuel L. Jackson) techno-cult, he faces an impossible choice: claim his ticket to paradise or ignite a rebellion to save humanity’s last embers.

Director David Leitch (Deadpool 2, Bullet Train) crafts a visceral, sun-scorched odyssey where art becomes salvation. From mutated beasts in the Alps to laser-fortified Louvre tunnels, Jake’s quest evolves from greed to legacy – proving that in a world stripped of beauty, hope is the rarest artifact of all.

Afterburn cast and biography

1. Dave Bautista as Jake

Jake’s cynicism is armor forged in radiation burns and betrayal – a former engineer who turned scavenger after losing his family to the Flare. Bautista balances brute force with aching vulnerability, especially when flashbacks reveal he once restored Renaissance art. His moral awakening peaks in Notre Dame’s ashes, shielding orphans from King August’s cyborg hounds with nothing but a rusted rebar club.

Bautista trained with parkour experts for Jake’s ruin-jumping sequences and studied art conservation. His improvised line – “You wanna save a smile? I’ll show you teeth” – became the trailer’s tagline after he shattered a drone with the Mona Lisa’s frame.

2. Samuel L. Jackson as King August

August isn’t a warlord – he’s a deranged tech prophet who believes the Mona Lisa’s smile contains an AI code to control the sun. Jackson oozes velvet menace in gold-plated body armor, preaching from a repainted Eiffel Tower while torturing dissenters with solar amplifiers. His god complex shatters when Jake smashes his data-core, screaming: “You broke my sky!”

Jackson’s (The Avengers) signature intensity merges with tragic delusion. August’s ocular implant – projecting holograms of pre-Flare Earth – was Jackson’s own character concept to visualize his madness.

3. Olga Kurylenko as Anya

Anya, the fierce leader of Parisian rebels, ambushes Jake to steal the painting for her people’s freedom. Kurylenko radiates desperate resilience – welding scrap metal into weapons and decoding Da Vinci’s journals. Her alliance with Jake ignites when she takes a plasma blast meant for him, scarring her face with Lichtenberg figures.

Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) performed her own wirework across collapsed rooftops. Anya’s backstory – a former Louvre curator who lost her children to radiation sickness – fuels her knife fight against August in the Venus de Milo gallery.

4. Daniel Bernhardt as Krieg

Krieg, August’s cyber-augmented enforcer, hunts Jake with twin tesla axes fused to his skeletal arms. Bernhardt’s silent physicality chills in a showstopping metro-tunnel brawl where he shreds trains with energy whips. His mechanical body hides a grim secret: he’s Jake’s brother, lobotomized by August after the Flare.

Bernhardt (John Wick) designed Krieg’s combat style blending kalaripayattu and robot kinetics. The climactic reveal – Krieg whispering “Remember… Ghent?” mid-fight – required 23 takes to perfect.

5. Eden Epstein as Zara

Zara, a feral teen with infrared vision, becomes Jake’s guide through toxic forests. Epstein crafts wild-eyed ingenuity – trapping beasts with piano wire and decoding radiation patterns in moss. Her bond with Jake culminates in sacrificing herself to overload August’s reactor, screaming “Make them remember blue skies!”

Epstein (Tribes of Europa) lived off-grid pre-filming to master survival skills. Zara’s signature weapon – a modified violin bow firing carbon bolts – was Epstein’s creation.

6. George Somner as Silas

Silas, Jake’s cynical airship pilot, trades fuel for pre-Flare whiskey and Sinatra records. Somner steals scenes with gallows humor (“Art’s pointless when your ass is gamma-baked”), but redeems himself flying through a solar storm to save rebels. His death scene – crooning “My Way” as his ship disintegrates – is instant cult cinema.

Somner (The Last Kingdom) improvised Silas’s obsession with vintage vinyl. The character’s modified DC-3 aircraft featured a functional whiskey distillery in-cockpit.

7. Phil Zimmerman as Bird Skull

This mute scavenger king rules Barcelona’s corpse-filled cathedrals, communicating through clicks and taxidermied ravens. Zimmerman’s physical performance peaks in a macabre auction where he trades human teeth for Jake’s Geiger counter. His territory holds the key to bypassing the Pyrenees’ death-fog.

Zimmerman (contortionist) based Bird Skull on vulture behavior. The character’s bone-mask helmet was molded from real ibex skulls found on location.

8. Paula Argüelles as Desolate Road Mother

A mystic guarding the only safe path through Chernobyl’s mutant jungles. Argüelles radiates eerie grace – offering Jake irradiated berries while predicting his death in smoke patterns. Her warning – “The lady’s smile eats souls” – foreshadows the painting’s hidden tech.

Argüelles (flamenco legend) choreographed her character’s ritualistic movements. Her tarot deck – crafted from pre-Flare museum pamphlets – contained genuine 2050s prophecy text.

9. Sergio Freijo as Officer Sanchez

Sanchez, a robo-legged Interpol holdout, protects the Mona Lisa for 10 years in a Louvre bunker. Freijo’s tragic resolve crumbles when August’s drones shred his android “family.” His last act: gifting Jake Da Vinci’s journal before self-destructing his exosuit.

Freijo (Money Heist) trained with French GIGN units for tactical scenes. Sanchez’s decaying uniform bore real Paris Police patches salvaged from flea markets.