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Hugh Jackman is barely recognizable in his latest role.
The Wolverine actor, 57, underwent a dramatic transformation to become the titular figure in The Death of Robin Hood. Much of Jackman’s face is hidden beneath a massive, gray beard and long, silver tresses in the first trailer for the A24 movie from writer-director Michael Sarnsoki.
Sarnsoki’s version appears very different from most modern interpretations of the longstanding myth of Robin Hood in the new trailer. What Jackman liked about it, as he he recently told Entertainment Weekly, is how real the central figure comes across.
“What I love so much about Mike’s vision of Robin Hood is that the script delivered power, and it examines how power can be used for good or bad,” he said. “Robin Hood is a real man in our story. With all the scars, the pain, the regret and, yes, the love.”
“Mike’s story has weight to it,” added Jackman. “For me, it’s beautiful and human.”
A24
Alongside Jackman’s brooding Robin Hood, The Death of Robin Hood also stars Bill Skarsgård and Jodie Comer.
Skarsgård, 35, stars as “a version of Little John,” while the nature of the character Comer, 32, plays is something Sarnsoki is still keeping under wraps, the director told EW.
Comer’s character — who is not Maid Marian — introduces Jackman’s Robin Hood “to another side of life,” said the director. “And the dance between those two brings the sensitivity to this movie.”
Sarnsoki also kept his lips sealed when asked how much of Jackman’s gray hair and beard came from wigs, and how much came from the actor himself. He did, however, tell EW that viewers “will be seeing some [of the actor’s] musclebound physique.”
Teasing the plot, Sarnoski told EW that Robin Hood “was this murderous outlaw who did a lot of terrible things and was kind of monstrous. But he’s lived long enough to see this folklore get created about him. He’s figuring out how he feels about that, about being portrayed as a hero when he knows what he really was.”
Jackman previously shared some behind-the-scenes shots from the Irish set of The Death of Robin Hood on social media in March — along with a farewell to his mustache, which was seemingly shaved off either for the role, or after he completed it.
Aidan Monaghan/A24
“There is a depth, a camaraderie and a spirit to the entire cast and crew of The Death of Robin Hood,” the actor captioned the post. “Thank you for this wonderful experience. It is an honor and a privilege. Thank you Ireland!!! Your beauty knows no bounds.”
The Death of Robin Hood is in theaters in 2026.
