Hugh Jackman Goes Dark as Robin Hood in A24’s New Film

Hugh Jackman wants you to forget every Robin Hood you’ve ever seen.

In a new promo for A24’s The Death of Robin Hood, the Tony winner serves as narrator, walking audiences through the full history of the folk legend — from his 15th-century origins to his idealized Hollywood depictions — before landing on what this film actually is: a cold, brutal, medieval story about a man whose myth outgrew his reality.

Jackman plays an aged Robin of Locksley who admits that his legend has been “greatly exaggerated” and that his actual past is a lot darker than the ballads suggest. This is not the charming rogue of Errol Flynn or even the conflicted outlaw of Ridley Scott’s 2010 version. This Robin is scarred, tired, and carrying something heavy.

A Brutal World

The film comes from writer-director Michael Sarnoski, whose resume includes the Nicolas Cage film Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One. He’s described the setting as aesthetically inspired by The Virgin Spring and Valhalla Rising — films where silence and violence carry more weight than dialogue.

“That was a very brutal world of violence, it was a hard place to survive in, and it was cold and bleak,” Sarnoski said of his approach.

Jodie Comer co-stars, and exclusive new footage shows the tension between her character and Jackman’s Robin reaching a breaking point. The pairing alone — Jackman’s physical gravitas against Comer’s precision — suggests something more interesting than a standard period piece.

A24 has not yet announced a release date, but the marketing push suggests it’s coming soon. For Jackman, fresh off his return as Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine, this is about as far from a superhero movie as you can get. Which might be exactly the point.