Hugh Jackman channels his inner Robin Hood in surprising new fantasy film none of us saw coming
Hugh Jackman turned heads with his new look in 'The Death of Robin Hood'. The 'X-Men star will next be seen as the legendary character from English folklore, with the film set to release in 2026. Directed by Michael Saronski, the movie also stars Jodie Comer and Bill Skarsgård in key roles.
Entertainment Weekly dropped the first look of Jackman, and the Aussie actor sported a grizzly and rugged look. Speaking to the outlet, Jackman spoke of taking on the role. "What I love so much about Mike’s vision of Robin Hood is that the script delivered power, and it examines how power can be used for good or bad," he said. Robin Hood is a real man in our story, with all the scars, the pain, the regret, and yes, the love. Mike’s story has weight to it. For me, it’s beautiful and human."
"You can be as familiar with earlier versions as you want," said Saronski. "You'll be carried along to understand what this version is, because the performances are so specific and so different from what you've seen before." He also dropped a major twist into the film's storyline. "He was this murderous outlaw who did a lot of terrible things, and was kind of monstrous. But he's lived long enough to see this folklore get created about him. He's figuring out how he feels about that, about being portrayed as a hero when he knows what he really was."
Saronski also weighed in on Jackman's frame. "You will be seeing some [of Hugh's] musclebound physique." He stresses it isn't an action movie, per se, but "it's probably more intense than you're expecting. It almost gets towards feeling like a war movie. Fighting back in those days was brutal; it wasn't people dancing around and fencing. It was people in the mud trying to crack each other's heads open with a shovel."
"There are five early ballads of Robin Hood that were first written as the story was passed down as oral tradition. And they're really brutal. He is portrayed as a hero of the common man, but they're still somewhat horrifying, in the way that old folk tales are."
'The Death of Robin Hood' will debut in theaters in 2026.
