A new clip from the movie Samaritan shows off the powers that Sylvester Stallone's character will have. It makes perfect sense for Stallone to finally be the lead in a superhero film. The three-time Oscar nominee is an action icon from his work in films including First Blood, Rocky, and The Expendables, but he hasn't had the chance to fully flex his muscles in the superhero genre. While he has appeared in several, including a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which will lead to an appearance in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and voicing King Shark in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, he hasn't had the opportunity to play a lead hero without being covered in a layer of CGI.
Samaritan, which will premiere on Prime Video on August 26, 2022, will finally allow him this chance. In the film, he will play Joe Smith, also known as Samaritan, a former superhero who is in hiding and trying to live his life under the radar until his powers are discovered by a young kid (Euphoria's Javon Walton) and he is brought out of his shell. The film was written by Escape Room's Bragi F. Schut (based on his Mythos Comics graphic novels of the same name, which he co-created with Marc Olivent and Renzo Podesta) and directed by Julius Avery, who helmed the 2018 WWII horror film Overlord.
This week, Prime Video shared a brand new clip from Samaritan ahead of its premiere next week. In the clip, Samaritan is attacked by a bad guy in a grimy alley. Even though he is stabbed in the back, he makes quick work of his assailant. Unfortunately, by throwing the man all the way out of the alley and into a parked car, he draws attention to himself, both from passersby on the street and a young child who witnessed the attack. Check out the clip below:
This clip clearly takes place early on in the film, when Samaritan's cover starts to be blown piece by piece. However, what's interesting is that the kid interrogating him in this scene isn't the one who will end up being his companion throughout the film. Including a scene discussing his powers with a different child will likely serve dual purposes. First, it will show the tenderness and desire to keep children safe that lurks under his hulking exterior. Second, it will likely contrast with his eventual character arc, allowing the storytellers to show how he talks to children about his powers before and after the events of the film.
This clip from Samaritan also shows off the gritty urban world in which the film will be taking place. It feels like any blue-collar Stallone movie, playing to the strengths of the iconic performer. However, it also brings the superhero film into a more realistic place, something that many comic book films have tried to do throughout the years, but perhaps never with such a down-to-earth sensibility.
Source: Prime Video
