In the sequel to 2018’s Den of Thieves, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, O’Shea Jackson Jr.‘s Donnie Wilson evolves from a master thief to a reluctant ally, adding depth to his character.
With Donnie and Gerard Butler‘s Big Nick shifting from enemies to potential partners, Jackson said he felt more prepared to embrace Donnie’s changes, especially since art imitated life for him in the franchise’s first installment.
“In the first one, you know me and Nick being enemies, and Donnie kind of having to be the character who’s under the radar. That was kind of mirroring how I felt in my own personal life,” Jackson told Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “With Den of Thieves being my third film ever, I just had this mindset of just doing my job, keeping my head down, not causing waves—get in, get out. And with this one, I had a new level of confidence because I’ve had more projects under my belt.”
Donnie and Big Nick’s unlikely alliance in the ‘Den of Thieves’ sequel
“It was going into my eighth, ninth year of my career. So I had the confidence that Donnie needed, and I knew that this was the time when Donnie got to spread his wings a little bit. You got to see the character for who he really was, this chameleon who’s always trying to think steps ahead of everybody else,” Jackson continued. “And so my first mindset of leading a team, and what would that mean of joining another group of organized crime, who aren’t really sure of me, and I’m not really sure of them, but we’re here for business, and just having that mindset going in, and then adding the complication of Big Nick—that’s where you really get to start to have fun. Because now you have layers to work with, things that can be done on Donnie’s mind, things that he’s unsure of, and a new layer for the audience to worry about too.”
Inside the high-stakes heist in ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’
According to the film’s logline, “Big Nick (Butler) is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie (Jackson), who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia as they plot a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange.”
For Jackson, disrupting the original dynamic between Big Nick and Donnie adds an exciting twist. He was eager to explore the complex partnership forming in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. The film dives deep into moral ambiguity, offering a realistic portrayal of the cop-criminal relationship. Now at the center of the chaos, Jackson said Donnie’s role blurs the lines between right and wrong.
“There’s no sure-shot good guy, sure-shot bad guy. And that’s life,” Jackson said. “You know, a lot of people who do the things that they do, whether that be illegal or not, is for a good purpose. Like, people gotta eat, people gotta provide, people have to do this, that, and the third, and in their eyes, they’re doing what’s right by any means possible.”
Exploring moral ambiguity in the ‘Den of Thieves’ franchise
He added, “So the idea that everything is so black and white is just unrealistic, and our realism is what helps push our movie forward. In this second one, at the end of the day, we’re rooting for our main characters. They’re still stealing from innocent people, you know, who have nothing to do with their life situation or anything like that. So we like to keep the audience questioning not only us but themselves that way. It allows the movie to stand out over any other cookie-cutter action film. And I think that’s what our fans expect from us, and we continue to do that with the second one, and with their support, continue to do it for films to come.”
