How Ben Affleck’s Wild New Thriller Pulled Off Its Most Brutal Fight Scene

The Accountant 2 works so well because it isn’t afraid to double down on the goofier themes its predecessor introduced. It’s one big “yes, and…” to the surprising two-hander between Ben Affleck’s Christian Wolff, an autistic savant, and his mercenary brother, Braxton, played with giddy panache by Jon Bernthal. Their chemistry is rightly drawing a lot of positive buzz for the long-in-the-making sequel, but they’re not the only highlights here.

Cynthia Addai-Robinson also reprises her role as Marybeth Medina, now the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the new straight man to play against Affleck and Bernthal. Fortunately, she’s more than a third wheel for the dynamic duo. The film introduces a fresh, formidable antagonist in Anaïs (Danielle Pineda), an amnesiac hitwoman with ties to Marybeth’s late mentor, former FinCEN Director Raymond King (J.K. Simmons).

Anaïs’ dynamic with Agent Medina feels like a subtle callback to that of Christian and Braxton in The Accountant: Though they don’t share a past or a familial connection, they’re two characters on an inevitable collision course. Once their paths do cross, they don’t waste much time, jumping straight into a brutal fight sequence that pulls no punches. Christian and Braxton’s delightful dysfunction takes a backseat, allowing The Accountant 2 to unleash its two secret weapons.

“We thankfully [filmed] our fight scene at the end of the movie,” Pineda tells Inverse. “I was probably the most stressed out about just doing it well and having it look authentic and real but not over-rehearsed.”

After starring in Cowboy Bebop and Jurassic World, Pineda is no stranger to combat. But she had to learn a new fighting style, Muay Thai, for The Accountant 2, which added a level of difficulty to her role as Anaïs. The actor wound up memorizing her fight with Addai-Robinson the way one might learn dance choreography: “It’s basically like learning a big number,” Pineda says. “We worked really hard, and I think it took about two days to shoot that sequence.”

“It’s like the most effed-up dance with the best dance partner,” Addai-Robinson adds with a laugh. “It’s not just a fight for fight’s sake. This is very much part of the story and very much about these two women essentially fighting for their lives. If we’re being real about it, it’s a fight to the death.”

Marybeth and Anaïs face off when the latter becomes the target of a major crime syndicate overseas. Not unlike Bernthal’s Braxton, Anaïs is a hired assassin for said group. She accepts the commission with gusto, totally oblivious to the fact that Marybeth has been connecting the dots to Anaïs’ tragic past and has the answers she’s unwittingly been seeking for years. There’s a sense that, like Christian and Braxton, Marybeth and Anaïs would work better as partners than as adversaries. As great as it is to see them duke it out, you want to see them join forces more — and you definitely don’t want either of them to lose their lives in their duel.

“I love when a great action sequence is married with the stakes of the situation, the actual story, and the characters, because otherwise you’re just watching something kind of flashy,” Addai-Robinson continues. “But if it’s like, ‘Oh, one of these characters might not make it,’ suddenly the audience leans in.”

The Accountant 2 fortunately strikes a great balance between white-knuckle fear and brutal, crowd-pleasing action. Each of our heroines lives to fight another day: Agent Medina survives her brush with Anaïs, while Anaïs finds a crucial clue to her past. Medina indirectly helps her get revenge against the men who set her on the path she walks now, which may or may not set the stage for a team-up down the line.

“They would be formidable, if they teamed up. They’d be unstoppable,” Addai-Robinson says.

Pineda doesn’t disagree, but reconciling after their brawl may be easier said than done. “I don’t know if you can forgive someone who stabs you in the lung and puts you in a coffin,” the actor jokes. “I’m pretty sure that’s a wrap on friendship.”

Still, anything is possible — especially if The Accountant 2 generates enough buzz for an Accountant 3. “I want to see a third one just to see about the female characters, what’s going to happen to them,” Pineda says.

“Now it’s like, you know these characters, you want to kind of stay along on the ride with them to see what [they] do,” adds Addai-Robinson. “So put it out into the universe: Accountant 3, or Accountant to the Third Power.”

The Accountant 2 is now playing in theaters.