Sylvester Stallone is kind of a natural superhero but he's not much of a superhero actor. He did briefly play Stakar Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but otherwise he focuses on his own franchise roles from Rocky to Rambo to The Expendables (whom he just sent to hell). However, this time last year we first heard about Sly's original superhero movie, Samaritan. Now we know who'll be starring with him in the movie.
Samaritan follows a young boy who tries to discover if a mythic superhero, who vanished 20 years earlier following a tragic event, is still alive.
According to Deadline, Euphoria actor and boxing prodigy Javon "Wanna" Walton will play the lead role opposite Sylvester Stallone. Here's a look at the two of them from Wanna's Instagram in November:
Now Wanna is on set for MGM's superhero thriller Samaritan and ready to go:
Here are the other four newly named cast members:
• Martin Starr, who played Gilfoyle on HBO's comedy Silicon Valley.• Pilou Asbæk, best known for playing Euron Greyjoy on Game of Thrones.• Dascha Polanco, who played Dayanara Diaz on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.• Moises Arias, known from Disney Channel's Hannah Montana.
No details were shared about the characters they'll play in Samaritan, but the film already has a release date of December 11, 2020. Julius Avery (Overlord) is directing from Bragi F. Schut's script, based on Schut's original idea. When he was announced to direct Samaritan, Avery said he was particularly excited to work with Sylvester Stallone:
Sly is a hero of mine, I’m incredibly thrilled to be working with such an iconic actor on this very special project with Balboa Productions and MGM.
No reports have spelled it out, but it sounds like Sylvester Stallone would play the retired superhero in question. I'm excited to see another original superhero film. Brightburn went for that angle in 2019 and it didn't quite connect with as many people as hoped, but I do think the superhero genre is wide enough to allow for more original stories. It's also wide enough, clearly, for movies like Joker -- which was based on a famous DC Comics character but not considered a "superhero movie."
Samaritan will be Sylvester Stallone's first starring vehicle since Rambo: Last Blood, which was not exactly a hit with critics or fans, but it did just tie for the most Razzie nominations, so there's that.
Samaritan is currently scheduled for release on December 11. Keep up with everything heading to the big screen this year with our 2020 movie release date schedule.
