Robin Hood has been the subject of countless Hollywood movies over the years. That includes two starring Sean Connery and one from A24 starring Hugh Jackman, which released a few months ago. And then The Uprising came along. While the Paul Greengrass movie was originally marketed as a historical epic about the English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, a couple of weeks ago, it began to be linked to Robin Hood too. Well, now that the movie is finally out we can talk about it, and CinemaBlend even got some insight from the film's team.
SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!
Is The Uprising A Robin Hood Movie?
As someone who had the opportunity to see The Uprising early, I was privy to key details prior to any chatter about it being a Robin Hood movie. The movie plays entirely like a historical epic about a few men who lead a revolt against King Richard II by marching into London and demanding change. Andrew Garfield plays a fictional character named Ploughman, who's a farmer who’s lost his family to the Black Death. The character finally decides he's had enough when a tax collector demands he pay the death taxes on his family once more after he did so years prior.
I admittedly didn’t know much about the history of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. So I was surprised when King Richard led the peasants to believe that he would help them only to enlist the help of a secret army that kills most of them. It’s a harrowing story about war and what happens when the powerful are corrupted. By the end of the movie, Ploughman has lost so much of the hope he once had.
This brings the audience to the final scene of the film where Ploughman is depicted as a hooded figure who hunts down King Richard when he and his mother are traveling through their kingdom. I thought to myself “Oh, it’s like Robin Hood!” Yet the character’s name is never mentioned explicitly.
I found this to be a very intriguing way to address “why” Robin Hood exists rather than starting the story with him as an established vigilante as is often the case. And rather than this historical epic ending in sadness and fear, it concludes with Ploughman and some of the other survivors taking control of their land rather than bowing to the king.
On top of this, some marketing materials revealed that this might perhaps be inspired by Robin Hood. It's a complex situation, and it led CinemaBlend to seek out some answers.
What The Uprising’s Writer/Director Told Us
When CinemaBlend sat down with writer/director Paul Greengrass to talk about The Uprising, he confirmed its connection to Robin Hood. In his words:
I think what was really interesting to me was that you had this world in Medieval England in the 14th century that was sort of starkly divided between the sort of wealthy oligarchs who protected their wealth and privileges and the mass of people who are ragingly angry outside felt the system was rigged against them. And that felt very contemporary. That felt like today and tomorrow. What was unexpected to me was to realize that that was where the legend of Robin Hood really began. [It] spoke to that same world, a world of injustice, where the rich were rich and the poor were poor. And, that felt like getting close to where the legend really began.
There you have it! Honestly, at first glance, it may seem surprising that Greengrass would choose to link the story to the legend of Robin Hood. However, given the filmmaker's storytelling sensibilities, it does make sense. After all, he has a habit for crafting tales about unlikely protagonists as seen in films like Captain Phillips and The Lost Bus.
All in all, I wasn't sure what to make of The Uprising when I first spotted it on the 2026 movie schedule. However, I now feel it makes for an interesting and original take on a famous character. Quite honestly, though, I'd find it interesting even if it weren't linked to Robin Hood. Check out the movie for yourself, as it's playing in theaters now.
