Denzel Washington confirms The Equalizer 4 and 5 are in development

Denzel Washington has confirmed he will be making more sequels in ‘The Equalizer’ franchise.

The 69-year-old actor has starred in the action series from its 2014 debut until the most-recent third entry last year, and now Washington has revealed he will be returning as the grizzled Robert McCall in two more movies.

Speaking with Esquire magazine, he said: “I told them I would do another ‘Equalizer’, and we’re doing four and five. More people are happy about that — people love those daggone [God damn] Equalizers.”

The ‘Gladiator II’ star added the series was as much for audiences as it was for him, because he loved getting the chance to be an action hero.

He added: “But I’ve come to realise that the ‘Equalizer’ films are for me, too, because they’re for the people. They want me to go get the bad guys: ‘We can’t get them, so you go get them.’ And I say, 'Okay, I’ll get them! Just wait right there. I’ll be right back!'”

‘The Equalizer 3’ - which also saw the return of Dakota Fanning as Emma Collins - followed ex-government assassin McCall as he fights against a powerful mafia in Southern Italy.

At the time, director Antonie Fuqua considered the movie to be the final instalment of the franchise, though teased he would consider making a prequel with a de-aged Washington through CGI technology.

The filmmaker told NME: “I definitely thought about it a lot. Especially now with the new technology and the AI and all of that kind of stuff ... Is there a story to be told how [McCall] became this person – the younger version.

“I’ve had the conversation with [writer] Richard Wenk quite a bit.”

De-aging technology has been used for Harrison Ford in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ and Robert De Niro in ‘The Irishman’, but Fuqua admitted he wasn’t sure whether the ‘Training Day’ actor would be open to utilising CGI or AI to become a younger McCall.

The director explained: “I haven't talked to Denzel about that yet.

“It's all so fresh and new. I'm still watching [de-aging technology advance]. I've watched Harrison Ford's film and I know there are other movies coming out.

“I think Sony has one coming out with Tom Hanks soon [‘Here’]. And I'm hearing the technology is getting better and better and better.

“So I'm kind of watching it to see where it goes.”