Hugh Jackman is trading in adamantium claws for a longbow in The Death of Robin Hood, A24’s brooding reimagining of the English folk hero. First-look images shared with Entertainment Weekly reveal a Robin far removed from the youthful rogue of Sherwood Forest legends — older, battered, scarred by a life of rebellion that has left its marks.
Director Michael Sarnoski, who carved a quiet masterpiece with Pig, directs this latest iteration of Robin Hood with a similar restraint. Like his truffle-hunting protagonist played by Nicolas Cage, Jackman’s Robin is a man worn down by the choices he made long ago, forced to confront their consequences when an unexpected encounter leaves him fighting for survival. Robin, wounded and on the brink, is cared for by an enigmatic woman played by Jodie Comer. Her presence, Sarnoski hints, unlocks a different emotional palette, one that reveals tenderness amid the wreckage of a life spent in resistance.
Robin’s world is one of haunted glances and buried regrets. Even his relationship with Little John, played by Bill Skarsgård, is cast in uncertainty. Skarsgård’s John is described as a former child soldier moulded by Robin’s cause, yet walking away with a vastly different view of who their leader truly was.
Past adaptations have leaned into swashbuckling spectacle or tongue-in-cheek irreverence, from Errol Flynn’s gallant charm to Mel Brooks’ satire. Even the more serious takes like Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood or the glossy 2018 version starring Taron Egerton struggled to find a fresh angle.
Shot on 35mm in Ireland, the film looks every bit as weathered as its lead: grey, wet, and quiet. And in that silence, there’s a kind of honesty that’s been missing from this legend’s many retellings. Jackman, nearly unrecognisable beneath a white mane and heavy furs and who’s made a career out of embodying tortured heroes, seems poised to deliver another performance steeped in grit and vulnerability.
What does the man behind the hood see when the crowd is gone, when the arrows are broken, and all that’s left are the faces of those who followed him into the woods? That’s the story The Death of Robin Hood is telling one arrow at a time.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, and anime — you name it. When she’s not reading or being a dedicated cinephile, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of Caleb from Love and Deepspace.
Kevin Low
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