Weapons is easily one of the most hyped movies of the summer, and I can’t wait to check it out. With Julia Garner leading a psychological horror-thriller from Barbarian director Zach Cregger, it already feels like the kind of eerie, character-driven chaos that sticks with you. But it turns out, this wasn’t always the cast we were supposed to get.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cregger confirmed that Weapons was almost a very different movie, at least in terms of the cast. Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Brian Tyree Henry (Bullet Train), and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) were all originally on board before delays and the union strikes forced a full recast. Pascal was even set to play the lead role of Archer Graff, a father caught in the emotional fallout of a terrifying small-town event.

According to Cregger: “I had a whole different cast for this movie. And then we had the strike, and then Pedro Pascal’s schedule threw us into turmoil. I had to recast the entire movie.”

Delays created scheduling conflicts. Those conflicts created a domino effect. “The strikes delayed us, and then when you delay, people’s schedules get conflicts, and then you’re back at square one,” he said. “I bear no ill will towards anybody. We just kept getting delayed and delayed. It’s like a domino effect. So I had to start over again.”

It’s a shame to lose that original version, especially given how stacked that cast was. Henry brings this vulnerable intensity to everything he touches, and Reinsve is the kind of actor who can anchor a film with just the quiet tension in her eyes. That trio, in a multi-threaded horror story? It would’ve been something strange and haunting.

But I’m not mourning the cast we didn’t get — I’m still more than intrigued by the one we have. Julia Garner is a force. She’s been quietly leveling up since Ozark, stealing every scene in The Assistant, Inventing Anna, and more. Giving her a true lead role in a psychological horror movie feels overdue. I’m so glad she’s the centerpiece here.

As for Pascal, it’s totally fine that he didn’t make it into this one. He’s had an exhausting (and maybe unsustainable?) run this year: Fantastic Four: First Steps, Eddington, Freaky Tales, Materialists, and The Last of Us — five vastly different projects that landed with varying degrees of acclaim. That’s not a bad problem to have, but it does raise the question: at what point does “he’s everywhere!” become too everywhere?

It’s possible that Cregger’s decision to start over, and ultimately cast Josh Brolin in Pascal’s place, gives the movie some breathing room. Brolin brings a different kind of intensity, more stoic and tightly wound. He doesn’t give you the same emotional transparency Pascal does, which may serve the story in a new way. I’m curious to see how it plays.

And even without Pascal and Henry, Cregger’s ambition for Weapons hasn’t changed. He’s still crafting a mystery horror epic that leans into interconnected stories and creeping dread. The original comparisons floated around include Magnolia, It Follows, and Prisoners, which says a lot about the tone and scope.

I’ll admit, there’s a parallel universe version of this film that I would’ve loved to see. Pascal playing emotionally frayed again, Henry delivering a third-act monologue (if the character makes it to the third act!) that rips your heart out, Reinsve unraveling from the inside out—it would’ve hit. But I’m also excited for the film we are getting, especially if it gives Garner the showcase she deserves.

So while the cast of Weapons was originally very different, the idea and the creative force behind it are still intact. And I’ll take ambitious horror with a pulse and a point of view any day, no matter who’s in the lead.