Warning! Spoilers ahead for Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
A common plot problem that tends to arise in action crime franchises was brilliantly solved by an important scene inDen of Thieves 2: Pantera. Christian Gudegast’s 2025 sequel saw the return of O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson andGerard Butler’s “Big Nick” O’Brien, this time aligned on the same side of a robbery of the ultra-secure World Diamond Center. As an LASD detective, Nick’s defection to join Donnie and the gang of international thieves known as the Panthers is surprising, but with alimony piling up, it makes sense he’d want in on a big score.
Nick’s interest in the financial gains of a massive heist raises a question broached by manyaction crime franchises: why keep stealing if you’re already rich from getting away with the first score? Theoretically, when characters make off with millions of dollars, the next move should be to disappear and enjoy the money forever, which oftentimes forces a more convoluted reason for the next heist or robbery in each sequel.Den of Thieves 2: Panteramanaged to get out in front of this problem in a key scene featuring only Nick and Donnie.
Den Of Thieves 2: What Pantera Means & How It Connects To The Story
The action heist sequel carries a conspicuous subtitle, and it directly relates to the international nature of the heist at the heart of the movie.
Donnie Explains The Real Reason He Does Heists In Den Of Thieves 2
For Donnie, It Was Never About The Money
After they are tossed out of the nightclub with the rest of the Panthers for fighting Marko and his group, Donnie and Nick drunkenly wander the streets of Nice until they stop for a late night meal. As they eat, they discuss their similar upbringings in the poorer parts of Los Angeles, and realize they have a lot in common despite the different life paths they wound up on. While Nick relays the experience that made him want to pursue bad guys,Donnie talks about an instance in which he broke into someone’s house out of necessity, growing up as poor as he did.
January 19th, 2018
$30 million
$80.5 million
41%
63%
January 10th, 2024
$40 million
$26.6 million*
62%
79%
That leads to him describing why it is he works up elaborate heists and continues to steal despite coming away with $30 million from thebrilliantDen of Thievesheistat the LA Federal Reserve. For Donnie, it’s not about the money, and never has been. As intelligent and in control as he is, there are plenty of avenues through which he could make enough money to live beyond comfortably. For him,it’s about the thrill of the heist itself, the planning and execution of getting into a place he’s not supposed to be, taking something and getting away clean.
Donnie’s Heist Goal Helps Make More Den Of Thieves Movies Possible
Theoretically, Donnie Has No Reason To Stop
With Donnie’s goal being the thrill of the heist and not actual financial gain, there are essentially unlimited possibilities for theDen of Thievesfranchise.The ending ofDen of Thieves 2: Panterasees Donnie recruited by the Mafia so that he can steal for them, and that’s surely the direction that the next chapter of the franchise will go. It’s likely that Big Nick returns, although it remains to be seen if he returns as an enemy of Donnie or an ally, considering how guilty he felt after turning him in (and his possible role in Donnie’s escape).
The heist at the heart ofDen of Thieves 2: Panterais based on the real 2003 Antwerp diamond heist, with many of the steps involved in the robbery used for the movie.
With Donnie not needing a financial reason to rob something, it also opens the door to him stealing things that aren’t money or precious jewels. Donnie’s specialty is breaking into places that can’t be broken into,so really any secure facility on Earth is fair game, like breaking into a jail to help someone escape, or getting into a government or military facility to steal secrets and intel. It was a brilliant choice to have Donnie completely non-reliant on financial gain, and that’s why the entertainingDen of Thievesfranchise has a bright future.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Cast
Sheriff “Big Nick” O’Brien tracks Donnie Wilson to Europe after his daring escape. As Donnie becomes deeply involved with diamond thieves and the Panther mafia, the stakes rise with a plan to rob the world’s largest diamond exchange.
