Branagh Cast as Russian Villain in New Jack Ryan Movie

Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh, who was previously announced as the director of the new adaptation of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels, will also play the Russian villain in the movie, according to Deadline. 

Chris Pine will take over the part of Ryan, previously portrayed on screen in different movies by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. The movie is the Ryan origin story and is set in the present day; it’s not thought to be based on any particular Clancy novel.

The casting of the Irish Branagh continues the tradition, begun by Sean Connery in “The Hunt For Red October,” of Russian antagonists of Jack Ryan being played by very-much-not-Russian actors.