Hugh Jackman gives Robin Hood the Old Man Logan moment in new movie

A darker take on the noble outlaw

"Would you like to know a secret? People speak of Robin Hood. Tell his stories. They're all lies."

Whether you grew up seeing Robin Hood as a cartoon fox, Sean Connery, or Jonas Armstrong in a BBC drama back in 2006, the story of Robin Hood has mostly remained the same: a noble outlaw who steals from the rich to give to the poor.

However, A24 and director-writer Michael Sarnoski, known for his work on the indie film Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One (and soon, A24's upcoming Death Stranding movie), are about to change that perception for good. In The Death of Robin Hood, the titular character is less of a hero than he is a brutal murderer, whose tales have been glorified by the common folk. And who better to take on that role than Hugh Jackman, whose portrayal of the outlaw in the reveal trailer shows him as a grizzled, cynical older man who's all too aware of the brutality he has brought to himself and others.

The trailer reveals Jackman's other star-studded cast members, such as Bill Skarsgard as Little John and Jodie Comer, whose character remains nameless so far, but has been confirmed not to be Hood's love interest, Maid Marian. What we can glean from the trailer, however, is that Comer's character saves Robin Hood from a grievous injury that should have killed him and offers him a chance at a new life. Whether Hood's past will allow him to do so is another story entirely.

Jackman isn't a stranger to taking on the role of an older gentleman grappling with his sordid past. He did so admirably as Jean Valjean in Tom Hooper's 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables, and again as the tough-as-Adamantium mutant James "Logan" Howlett in James Mangold's 2017 film, Logan, where he quite literally took on the role of Old Man Logan — a character who is exactly what the name implies, an older, more jaded version of Wolverine. In this film, Logan is haunted by his past, something Robin Hood looks set to face himself in Sarnoski's take on the outlaw.

And just like he did in those films, Jackman's version of Hood looks as though he'll also have a child protégé to keep safe from his past misdeeds. There are worse things to be typecast as, and given the success of Jackman in those previous roles, why fix what ain't broke?

The trailer highlights plenty of combat, but while there will be enough action, with Sarnoski describing the film to Entertainment Weekly as "intense," it isn't an action movie. In fact, the writer-director describes The Death of Robin Hood as feeling a little 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."

The Death of Robin Hood will debut in theaters in 2026.