Sylvester Stallone has some superhero movie experience under his belt from playing Stakar Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and we’ll see him reprising the character next year in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. That said, the upcoming movie Samaritan has provided the Rocky actor to take center stage as the main superhero! Almost a full year after bone-crunching and badass Samaritan footage was shown at CinemaCon, the first trailer for this addition to the Amazon Prime movies library is here, giving a taste of this story featuring Stallone as a retired superhero.
Within this fictional world, Sylvester Stallone’s Joe Smith once protected the citizens of Granite City as Samaritan, but 25 years ago, the public was led to believe that the superhero had died during a fiery warehouse battle with his rival, Nemesis. Not so, as Smith now spends his days as a garbageman keeping a low profile.
The city he once protected is more crime-ridden than ever, but Smith shows no interest in becoming Samaritan again to save the day. However, his quiet life is overturned upon meeting a young boy named Sam Clearly, played by Euphoria’s Javon Walton. After seeing Joe Smith save him from some bullies with his incredible strength, Sam suspects that the older man is a still-alive Samaritan, and that hunch is confirmed when Smith is hit by a car and quickly heals from the collision.
The Samaritan trailer doesn’t provide specifics on why he retired as Samaritan after that fight with Nemesis, though Sylvester Stallone’s character does say that his strength has diminished since he “stopped caring,” which happened a long time ago.
Smith also tells Sam that for some people, it’s “too late to change the damage they’ve done.” Whatever his reasoning is, less-than-stellar individuals in the city also discover what Smith’s capable of doing, and he’ll need to use his powers to protect Sam and come to terms with his legacy as Samaritan. Directed by Overlord’s Julius Avery, who described Sylvester Stallone as being the perfect fit for a superhero movie, Samaritan’s cast also includes Martin Starr, Moisés Arias, Dascha Polanco, Natacha Karam, Pilou Asbæk and Jared Odrick.
Screenwriter Bragi F. Schut had previously adapted his story into a series of graphic novels published by Mythos Comics, and in 2019, MGM acquired the Samaritan script. Samaritan began filming in late February 2020 and finished the following October following a lengthy hiatus due to COVID-19. During principal photography, Stallone shared a lot of updates on how Samaritan was coming along.
Originally the plan was for Samaritan to be theaters, but now people with an Amazon Prime subscription will be able to watch it from the comfort of their own home starting August 22. As we count down the remaining weeks until its arrival, take a look through the 2022 release schedule to learn what other movies are left to come out this year.
