The first images have arrived for Christopher Nolan's new movie, Tenet. The Dark Knight trilogy filmmaker is known for playing things close to the chest when it comes to his projects, and his latest is no exception. Tenet (which Nolan also wrote) is described as being "an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage", but Nolan and Warner Bros. have otherwise succeeded in keeping story details under wraps for now. It's presumed the film has a time-bending element, though, if only because it's a motif of Nolan's work in general, going back to his breakout success with Memento nearly twenty years ago.

Beyond that, it's confirmed Tenet is led by a cast that includes BlacKkKlansman's John David Washington, in addition to Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Clémence Poésy, and Nolan's good-luck charm, Michael Caine. The film's prologue will be screening with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in IMAX theaters this month, and a regular trailer is expected to drop as soon as this week. In the meantime, the first-look Tenet photos have released online.

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EW has the exclusive on the first Tenet images, which are about as unrevealing as one might expect. Nolan spoke about the movie in equally vague terms during his interview with EW, offering little insight beyond claiming the film is as ambitious as anything else he's made. You can read his quote below, followed by the photos.

“We’re jumping off from the point of view of an espionage film, but we’re going to a number of different places. We’re crossing a few different genres in a hopefully exciting and fresh way. [Producer] Emma [Thomas] and I have put together a lot of large-scale productions, but this is certainly the biggest in terms of international reach. We shot in seven countries, all over the place, with a massive cast and huge set pieces. There’s no question, it’s the most ambitious film we’ve made.”

Robert Pattinson and John David Washington in Tenet
Elizabeth Debicki and John David Washington in Tenet

Nolan assured EW Washington is "very much the hero" of Tenet, and it's nice to hear the actor (a former professional football player and, yes, Denzel Washington's son) is getting a tentpole of his own after years of doing excellent work in film and television. Pattinson's presence is also welcome here; he's shunned blockbuster fare since the Twilight saga came to an end, but has since evolved into a fascinating arthouse actor and is getting back into the franchise game with a pair of fascinating projects in Tenet and Matt Reeves' The Batman. Amusingly, as fans have previously noted in the photos leaked from the Tenet set, Pattinson is dressed almost identical to Nolan in real-life here. Whether that means anything for his character, however, is another matter.

As for Washington, he gives off a definite James Bond vibe in the photo of him and Debicki (even though, as he told EW, the scene glimpsed here was terrifying for him to shoot since he'd never driven a boat before). Nolan has a well-documented love for the Bond franchise, so it seems like Tenet could be his attempt to make a similarly globe-trotting adventure involving espionage and secret agents, but with his trademark sci-fi twist. Hopefully, the Tenet trailer will provide an even better taste of Washington's 007-style antics and mission in the movie... and maybe, just maybe, shed a bit more light on the actual plot.

NEXT: Everything We Know About Christopher Nolan's Tenet

Source: EW

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