The Many Saints of Newark trailer, which offered audiences their first look at the long-awaited prequel, is missing significant Sopranos characters. After more than a decade, producer David Chase returns to New Jersey’s underworld to explore the origins of everyone’s favorite mob family, the Sopranos. Set primarily in the 1970s, the prequel will explore Tony Soprano’s juvenile years and origins with the DiMeo crime family. However, the trailer’s focus on Tony may be a marketing trick to entice viewers. In fact, the main character may be Dickie Moltisanti.
Other significant characters from The Sopranos returning for The Many Saints of Newark showcased in the trailer are Paulie Walnuts, Junior Soprano, Silvio, and Tony’s mother and father. All characters who played significant roles in Tony’s childhood and in some cases remained his most trusted associates. While fans are sure to be excited to see these characters in their primes, the most anticipated performance is Michael Gandolfini taking on his late father’s role of Tony Soprano. Thankfully, audiences will not have long to wait as the film is set for a theatrical and same-day HBO Max release on October 1, 2021.
Related: What Does Many Saints Of Newark Mean? Sopranos Prequel Title Explained
Nonetheless, there are still plenty of characters who did not make an appearance in the trailer. Characters who will potentially play a significant role in the film and young Tony Soprano’s childhood. Obviously, it would be impossible to allow each character their own moment to shine in a two-minute trailer, but it may be worth exploring the characters that were noticeably absent from the trailer. Many of the characters below are confirmed to make an appearance in the film with listings on IMDB. However, some of these important Sopranos characters remain unconfirmed despite their appearance making sense given the film’s period setting.
Janice Soprano
Janice Soprano, Tony’s older sister, is one of the more obvious characters who will be making an appearance in the upcoming prequel. Audiences remember Janice for her wonderfully strong personality and her strained relationship with Tony, who resented her for abandoning him and their younger sister when she moved to California upon graduating high school. Therefore, the Sopranos prequel may explore Janice’s high school appearances. Knowing what the future holds for the two siblings, it will be interesting to see how their relationship is developed in the film. Janice will be played by Alexandra Intrator in the upcoming prequel.
Barbara Soprano
Tony and Janice’s youngest sister is another character that one would expect to make an appearance in The Many Saints of Newark. Barbara is the most innocent of the Sopranos children and is only seen every once in a while, in the original series. In fact, like her older sister, Barbara also leaves the family to pursue a legitimate life with a good man. Barbara does make additional appearances in later seasons of The Sopranos as a caregiver for Uncle Junior who succumbs to dementia. This may hint at a special bond between young Barbara and her Junior, which will hopefully be explored in some capacity.
Uncle Ercoli “Eckley” Soprano
Rounding out the core Soprano family is Uncle Eckley, who is only referenced a handful of times in the original series. Uncle Eckley is said to have died shortly before Tony’s father, Johnny. Consequently, little is known about Uncle Eckley except for what Tony learns from Junior, who recalls his brother being incredibly strong and handsome. Junior also reveals Eckley suffered from some form of disability that affected his cognitive development. This disability prompted their mother to search far and wide for an adequate care facility, a facility that Tony’s father continued to pay for upon their parents’ passing. His presence in the film, while not necessary, is entirely plausible given The Many Saints of Newark’s 1970s setting and would allow for an incredibly intimate look at the brothers’ relationship.
Related: Sopranos Prequel Movie Can Better Explain Why Tony Hates (& Loves) His Mom
Carmela Soprano
Carmela DeAngelis, Tony’s future trophy wife, may or may not be in The Many Saints of Newark trailer. There is a young blonde high school student who briefly appears in the trailer, but she has not been confirmed as a young Carmela. This would make perfect sense as audiences may recall that Tony and Carmela were high school sweethearts. The two characters may not be dating in the film, but it would be entertaining to witness the beginnings of their budding relationship. A relationship that could be helped along by her older cousin Dickie Moltisanti, who may be the primary protagonist in the upcoming film.
Jackie Aprile, Sr.
Perhaps one of the most significant mobsters in The Sopranos is Jackie Aprile, who is the acting boss of the DiMeo family, of which the Soprano family belongs. Jackie’s absence from the trailer is somewhat surprising given that Jackie and Tony’s friendship goes way back. In fact, the two of them rose through the ranks together along with Silvio Dante and often participated in crimes together. One of their most notable crimes being the legendary robbery of a local card game, which fast-tracked the trio to mafia stardom. Jackie will be played by Chase Vacin and will grant audiences an insight into Tony’s childhood friendships.
Richie Aprile
Another vital member of the DiMeo crime family is Jackie Aprile’s older brother Richie. Richie is best remembered for his incredibly violent ruthlessness. In fact, his cruel actions were consistently showcased in the series all the way up to his death at the hands of Janice Soprano. Moreover, as the older of the Aprile brothers, audiences can expect Richie to already be a key player in the family during The Many Saints of Newark. He will likely play a somewhat significant role as a go-to enforcer. This senior position means audiences will witness a vastly different interaction between him and Tony than is shown in The Sopranos.
Herman “Hesh” Rabkin
Hesh Rabkin was frequently seen throughout The Sopranos as a close associate of the Soprano family and very successful loan shark. Hesh, despite not being a made member of the mafia, is another character who has been around forever and is known to have served Tony’s father Johnny in the same capacity he serves Tony. Hesh is an incredibly trusted and respected friend and business partner, so it only seems natural that Hesh will appear throughout The Many Saints of Newark. This means audiences will finally see the close relationship between him and Johnny Soprano, which will likely mirror the relationship shared between Tony and Hesh in the future.
Arthur “Artie” Bucco
Artie Bucco, the restaurateur seen throughout the entirety of The Sopranos, is also one of the only recurring characters not involved in Tony’s criminal enterprises. Though he consistently considered jumping into the business. This close friendship implies that Tony’s bond with Artie was fairly strong as it consistently endured ups and downs over the course of the series. Consequently, Artie may play a somewhat significant role in the film’s exploration of Tony’s school life as audiences may remember they were childhood friends. Artie will be portrayed by Robert Montano and will give audiences an insight into how similar the character was in his youth to the awkward and self-loathing man he is in The Sopranos.
This is every major Sopranos character missing from The Many Saints of Newark trailer and their significance to the Soprano family. The Sopranos’ six seasons gave audiences an enormous amount of information on each character and their backstory that will likely be utilized to great effect in the highly-anticipated prequel. It will be interesting to see how the film incorporates all the characters in an organized fashion. The Many Saints of Newark certainly has a lot of ground to cover and will likely leave fans wanting more of 1970s New Jersey.
