Sing it like Jon Bon ladies and gentleman “in a blaaaaaze of glooory”. That’s right, we may just be getting some fresh cowboy tunes from the great man himself as it looks like Young Guns 3: Dead or Alive is officially on.

In 1949–50, a 90 year old man named Brushy Bill Roberts claimed he was the infamous Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid. His story was supported by considerable evidence and endorsements from individuals known to have associated with the famous outlaw. However, the authorities dismissed his claims. One notable believer in Roberts’ story is actor Emilio Estevez, who portrayed Billy the Kid in the 1988 Western Young Guns and its 1990 sequel Young Guns II, even donning old-age makeup in a few scenes to play Brushy Bill himself. This belief has fueled Estevez’s development of Young Guns 3: Dead or Alive, a project he’s been working on since 2019 with screenwriter John Fusco, who penned the original films. Just last month, it was confirmed the production has secured a tax credit to shoot in New Mexico. Now, it’s been revealed that the new film’s plot will feature Billy the Kid crossing paths with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.

Billy the Kid was apparently killed in 1881 but Young Guns 3 will catch up with him 30 years after he faked his own death, and will also show his involvement in the Mexican revolution that lasted from 1910 – 1920. While chatting to the guys over at the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Estevez explained why he was returning to one of his most iconic franchises:

“I’m gonna say something that will probably scare you, but playing Billy the Kid, that character is probably the closest I’ve ever played to anybody who’s like me. Not that I’m sociopathic. However, it’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing a character. He was so beautifully unhinged. And from what we know, historically speaking, that is who he was. He was a prankster, he was a jokester, people adored him, but they were also terrified of him because you never knew what you were going to get on any given day. I just had such an affinity for the character, and over the years I’ve become very fond of the desert and the Southwest and I feel very at home in New Mexico. … In this current climate of nostalgia, if I’m going to get dragged back kicking and screaming, how about I not get dragged kicking or screaming – (go back to) something I really enjoyed. Let’s figure out a way to reboot this, rediscover this, re-examine this, however you want to frame it.”

Estevez has been busy scouting locations for the movie already this year, and has earmarked the likes of D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs) and Anthony Ramos (Twisters) as the kind of talent he wants to lead the story, which Estevez has also spoken about:

“It does center on a bunch of new Regulators, mostly Latino, Indigenous people, and most of the film takes place in Mexico. It falls on the eve of the Mexican Revolution. So you have a young Pancho Villa, who’s 28 at the time, you have his group of soldados, true believers and revolutionaries who are all kids. You had a human trafficking ring going on on the border, he was taking kids from the Pueblos and consigning them to his army, they were grabbing kids off the orphan train. There was a whole cabal of people, the Germans were there. There’s so much history that was going on on the border. Of course, during the Mexican Revolution the Germans were funding Pancho Villa because the Americans were not interested, they looked down their nose at Mexico, so the Germans were providing gold and arms and they were also spying on America. This was a few years before World War I. So all of this was happening south of the border and Billy the Kid meets Pancho Villa and he is asked to come along and train his young men. So that’s basically the story. I become the Tunstall character in many ways and bring this group of mostly Latino young men through the paces and then all hell breaks loose. … It’s a big Latino cast, a big Indigenous people cast, without feeling like it’s ‘Oh, God, they made the woke version of Young Guns.’ This is natural. This is organic to what was happening at the time.”

The cast is also taking shape nicely, with Lou Diamond Phillips and Christian Slater confirmed to reprise their original roles alongside Emilio Estevez. And, naturally, it wouldn’t be a Young Guns movie without some cowboy tunes from Bon Jovi. So, whip out your pistols and saddle up your horse for another ride into the sunset! What’s your thoughts on this news? Let us know…Below…