Janina Gavankar Cast as Commander Knoxx in Borderlands Movie

On social media, Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford unveiled a brand new character that’s being introduced through the upcoming Borderlands movie named Commander Knoxx. Additionally, Pitchford also revealed the actress who’ll be playing this character, Janina Gavankar. 

Janina Gavankar Cast as Commander Knoxx in Borderlands Movie

Janina Gavankar will join the cast of the Borderlands movie as an all-new character I named specifically for this story. Janina will play Commander Knoxx, who followed in her father’s footsteps when she joined Atlas’ private army, the Crimson Lance. She is, in a word, badass. pic.twitter.com/LzWWqlPild

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) April 12, 2021

The cast list for the Borderlands film just keeps on growing, with a brand new casting announcement occurring earlier today. Per Randy Pitchford, Janina Gavankar has been tapped to play a brand new character named Commander Knoxx. 

Pitchford notes that he named the character before going on to offer a brief description of who Knoxx is and how she fits into the Borderlands film.

“Janina Gavankar will join the cast of the Borderlands movie as an all-new character I named specifically for this story. Janina will play Commander Knoxx, who followed in her father’s footsteps when she joined Atlas’ private army, the Crimson Lance. She is, in a word, badass.”

For those unfamiliar with Janina Gavankar, she’s been part of a number of recognizable properties. You may know her as Luna Garza in True Blood, Diana Thomas in Sleepy Hollow, Tessa in The Vampire Diaries, or Alison Namazi in The Morning Show, to name just a few.

Gavankar has also done voice acting for video games with roles including Tatai in Horizon Zero Dawn, Amita in Far Cry 4, Lola in Afterparty, and Iden Versio in Star Wars: Battlefront II. 

No additional information on the character Gavankar will play in the Borderlands film, Commander Knoxx, has been provided outside of the brief introduction from Randy Pitchford. However, we imagine we’ll hear more about Knoxx as the Borderlands film works its way through development. 

We’ve already been treated to a wealth of casting announcements over the last few months, along with a synopsis that confirms the Borderlands film will be its own thing separate from the Borderlands video game franchise. 

Speaking on the separation between the Borderlands film and game series previously, Pitchford explained:

“To the interested: The Borderlands Cinematic Universe is not identical to the Borderlands Videogame Universe. We are authentic to characters, tone and style, but allow for independent storylines. The mediums are not the same, so the content should not be bound to the same rules.” 

The Borderlands film cast list based on past and current casting announcements is as follows:

• Cate Blanchett – Lilith 
• Jamie Lee Curtis – Tannis
• Kevin Hart – Roland 
• Jack Black – Claptrap 
• Ariana Greenblatt – Tiny Tina
• Édgar Ramirez – Atlas
• Florian Munteanu – Krieg
• Janina Gavankar – Commander Knoxx

As for what you can expect from the Borderlands film content wise, here’s the film’s synopsis… 

“Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption;

Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Curtis), the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap (Black), a persistently wiseass robot. These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power.

The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.”

The Borderlands movie will be a Lionsgate film with filming set to begin soon in Budapest, Hungary. Stay tuned, as we’ll be providing additional updates as soon as they’re shared.

In the meantime, what do you think of the casting of Janina Gavankar? Are you excited to learn more about the character she’ll play in the Borderlands film, Commander Knoxx? Let us know on our social media channels including Facebook and Twitter!

Related: Borderlands Film Will Be Separate From Borderlands Games