Road House Remake’s Secret Weapon Proves Its Best Villain Replacement Isn’t Conor McGregor

Summary Original Road House villains have worthy counterparts in the 2024 remake, with Conor McGregor as a standout antagonist named Knox.

However, Billy Magnussen's Ben Brandt embodies the original movie's campy tone the best by capturing the malicious yet comical spirit of the '80s classic villain Brad Wesley.

Road House 2024 sets the stage for a potential sequel with Knox seeking revenge, teasing the arrival of Ben's father and true Wesley successor, Gerald Brandt.

The most underrated performance in 2024's Road House proves that the remake's best villain replacement from the original movie isn't Conor McGregor's Knox. Although there are many things the 2024 Road House remake leaves out from the original 1989 movie, it does include counterparts for most of the bad guys. The original Road House's main antagonist is Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara), an older, wealthy business magnate and crime lord. Wesley's right-hand man is Jimmy Reno (Marshall Teague), who does most of his dirty work for him, including going toe-to-toe with protagonist Dalton (Patrick Swayze), the "cooler" at the Double Deuce.

Jimmy's character replacement in Road House 2024 is Knox, played by MMA star Conor McGregor in his acting debut. The shared character of Jimmy and Knox is meant to be the only one of Wesley's henchmen who can actually take on Dalton (played by Jake Gyllenhaal in the remake) in a fight, making the terrifying enforcer especially intimidating. However, the onscreen replacement for Wesley himself in the Road House remake did an even better job than McGregor at capturing the over-the-top villainous camp from the '80s cult classic.

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Road House (2024) is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Related What Happened To The Cast Of Road House 1989 After The Movie Almost all of the prominent cast members from the original Road House movie continued acting after 1989, though some have since passed away.

Billy Magnussen Perfectly Captures The Ridiculous '80s Villain Energy In Road House 2024

Magnussen's Ben Brandt Nailed Brad Wesley's Campy Deviousness In The Remake

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In the Road House remake, the role of Wesley is split between the incarcerated real estate mogul, Gerald Brandt, and his bratty adult son, Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen). The Brandts are looking to acquire the land on which the Road House bar resides, so they build resorts along the highway. Although Gerald is calling the shots from behind bars, Ben takes care of business on the outside by having his henchmen target Dalton and the Road House. Since Gerald is never seen and only heard talking on the phone from prison, Ben is the one who occupies Wesley's role onscreen.

Magnussen's Ben Brandt has all the malice and cruelty of Wesley, but since he's not top dog, his insecurity in his position and his easily bruised ego add another comedic layer to his villainous disposition.

In this role, Magnussen delivers a truly brilliant performance as the equally evil yet ridiculous antagonist. Magnussen's Ben Brandt has all the malice and cruelty of Wesley, but since he's not top dog, his insecurity in his position and his easily bruised ego add another comedic layer to his villainous disposition. Moments like Ben throwing a fit while getting his face shaved on the rocky waters and hurling his phone into the ocean then earnestly telling his henchman to go retrieve it show that Magnussen understands the borderline goofiness involved to play this villain.

Still, Ben Brandt can be truly menacing, as shown by the scene where he taunts Dalton about his dark past while sporting a pastel pink Cleopini suit. McGregor may have gone full beast mode with his line delivery and the way he carries himself as Knox, which the role required, but as far as villain replacements from the original movie, Magnussen matched the campy '80s villain vibe the best in the Road House remake.

Related Road House Remake Cast & Character Guide The 2024 Road House remake takes some existing characters from the original, as well as introducing completely new players to the main story.

Ben Brandt's Death Is A Missed Opportunity For Road House 2 (But Now Its Real Wesley Replacement Can Arrive)

Ben Brandt's Father Gerald Could Finally Make An Appearance In The Teased Sequel

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Road House 2024's ending showed Knox snapping Ben's neck out of sheer irritation with the entitled, whiny rich boy. Shortly after Ben drops dead, Dalton seemingly stabs Knox to death. However, the post-credits scene in Road House 2024 reveals that Knox survived and appears to be out for revenge, setting up a potential Road House remake sequel.

If Gerald is released from prison, viewers could meet the missing Road House villain in a sequel and see what Wesley's replacement would look like with all the power.

If Road House 2 comes to fruition, this would provide the perfect opportunity to finally introduce viewers to the illusive and temperamental Gerald Brandt. Although Ben's demise parallels Wesley's at the end of 1989's Road House, Gerald is the truer successor of Wesley's character. Ben was only standing in for his father throughout the events of the Road House remake, but if Gerald is released from prison, viewers could meet the missing Road House villain in a sequel and see what Wesley's replacement would look like with all the power.

Depending on who gets cast as Gerald Brandt in a potential Road House remake, it could make up for Ben's absence.

Unfortunately, killing off Ben prevents Magnussen from reprising his role to deliver another pitch-perfect performance in any future installments. It would've been incredible to finally see Ben interacting with his bully of a father face-to-face, but depending on who gets cast as Gerald Brandt in a potential Road House remake, it could make up for Ben's absence.

Road House Proves How Great Billy Magnussen Is At Playing Blockbuster Villains

Magnussen Has Played Lots Of Onscreen Bad Guys In The Past

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Magnussen's stellar performance in Road House should come as no surprise, since he always delivers when playing the villain in movies. One of his first film roles was playing Claude Kenton, a sociopathic weapons collector and older brother of Rory Culkin's Chris Kentonk, in the 2010 teen crime drama Twelve.

Related 10 Best Billy Magnussen Movie And Television Roles, According To IMDb With new roles in The Many Saints of Newark and No Time to Die, Billy Magnussen has been building an impressive career of movie and television roles.

Magnussen played a number of bad guys across different films in 2021, including corrupt CIA agent and undercover terrorist mole, Logan Ash, in the James Bond film No Time to Die. He also played a Nazi officer in the 2021 TV movie The Survivor, based on the true story of real-life Holocaust survivor and boxer, Harry Haft. Most recently, Magnussen starred in Netflix's Spy Kids: Armageddon (2023) as the central villain, Rey Kingston, a tech mogul and video game developer trying to take over the world.