After donning a bespoke suit as Eggsy in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Taron Egerton will soon take on another heroic silver screen role when Robin Hood finally premieres. The tale of the iconic thief has been told over and over for centuries, so naturally everyone involved seems keen on finding a way to make this film stand apart from the others. According to Robin Hood director Otto Bathurst, part of that fresh take will involve focusing on Robin Hood as a revolutionary, and not just a thief. Bathurst addressed the change and explained:
You don't become a legend for 800 years if you've just stolen a few bags of money from rich people to give to the poor. In my mind, Robin Hood was this sort of seriously militarized anarchist revolutionary, a freedom thinker and a truth seeker. And the more I got into the story, it just became startling how utterly relevant it is to what's going on in society now.
Many fans likely have a very childish and innocent take on who Robin Hood is as a character. After all, he's a classic folk hero, and much of his sharper edges can be dulled in the transition to children's stories. Instead of embracing that Aladdin-esque pickpocket persona, the film will instead focus on the character as a military leader and a genuine force for societal change. From there, they can draw parallels between that story and today's perceived socio-economic inequality and tell a story that's simultaneously timeless and timely.
These remarks to EW seem to line up with other descriptions of Taron Egerton's Robin Hood in recent months. Specifically, the 28-year-old actor similarly spoke out about his take on the legendary thief earlier this year and explained that we would be introduced to him as a soldier in the Middle East during the Crusades -- just like Kevin Costner's version of the character from the 1990s.
Focusing on this element of Robin Hood's story could also really help the new movie stand apart from other entries in the Robin Hood canon. We have seen countless iterations of the folk hero debut on the silver screen over the years, so finding a new way to approach the tried and true formula is obviously a significant benefit for Robin Hood's narrative. Couple that with the fact that several major modern heroes (such as Arrow's Oliver Queen and The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen) already take ample inspiration from Robin Hood to inform their personalities and tactics, and it becomes reasonably clear that this movie needs to do something new and unique to shake things up.
Otto Bathurst's Robin Hood will land in theaters next year on September 21, 2018. As for the rest of this year, take a look at our 2017 movie premiere guide to see what's still on the horizon for December releases.
