Samaritan - What We Know So Far

In 30 years, we've only seen Sylvester Stallone in two major superhero blockbusters, playing the leader of the Ravagers and the Law, respectively. Now, the Italian Stallion looks set to go for round three with Samaritan, an original production in which he finally gets the big screen superpowers he deserves. Stallone is on double duty for the project, serving as both the picture's star and, under his Balboa Productions banner, the producer. He's been talking it up in a big way on social media for the last few months, giving prospective fans plenty to look forward to — "a different kind of Super Hero," as he put it. But what do we know about this bold new look at the world's most popular movie genre? We can ascertain from Sly's Instagram that "filming is going great," and that, at some point, it was deemed necessary to put his head on a tripod.

Beyond that, almost everything we've heard about Samaritan is conjecture. Despite its release date drawing ever closer, we still haven't seen a trailer or much in the way of promotional material. Still, we've managed to cobble together a few bits and pieces to give you the inside skinny on this exciting new project.

Not much is known about the plot of Samaritan so far, but here's what we've been able to glean. It's an original story written by Bragi F. Schut. You might recognize his work — he previously penned the 2011 Nicolas Cage fantasy adventure Season of the Witch and 2019's Escape Room. In all likelihood, the narrative will more closely resemble these and not his other recent work, the Lego Ninjago series.

Within the movie's universe, a calamity has occurred some 20 years prior involving an A-list superhero, after which said superhero disappears. Samaritan tells the story of a young man, played by Javon "Wanna" Walton, who crosses paths with the disgraced hero (Sylvester Stallone) in his later years, going simply by the name Stanley Kominski. Beyond that, details about the movie, directed by Overlord's Julius Avery, have been kept mum. Unlike nearly every other superhero production from the last two decades, Samaritan is a brand new property, so there's no source material to plumb for potential story beats. We'll just have to wait until the film comes out for answers. And when might that be, you ask? Well.

It's been a long road, getting Samaritan from the page to the screen, but the film is currently slated for release on June 4, 2021. Initially, Samaritan was slated for a November 2020 release, but production halted in March of that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stallone took to Instagram to inform fans that filming had resumed on September 24, 2020.

Assuming that the picture sticks to its current release plan, Samaritan will face some steep competition when it hits theaters. It's set to open alongside the long-awaited next entry in the Conjuring series, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and will be dropping in cinemas just a month after Black Widow, the first theatrically released MCU movie in nearly two years. Additionally, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway opens on May 14, and it's difficult to imagine that the world won't once again be steamrolled by the juggernaut that is Beatrix Potter fever. Still, if the last twelve months have taught us anything, it's that release schedules are really more like guidelines than actual rules. We'll just have to see how things pan out.

There's one thing about Samaritan that we can report with confidence: the cast is empirically gangbusters. We already know that we'll be seeing Sylvester Stallone as a grizzled, late-in-life superhero and relative newcomer Javon "Wanna" Walton as his prospective young ward, but the supporting players really add some kick to the recipe. First off, there's Martin Starr, no stranger to superhero movies after making appearances in the MCU's Spider-Man flicks and 2008's The Incredible Hulk; he's also beloved for his work in cult classic television series like Freaks and Geeks and the recently resuscitated Party Down. You can also expect to see former child star Moisés Arias, best known as Rico Suave from Hannah Montana and Luis in the short lived Jean-Claude Van Johnson. Dascha Polanco, a.k.a. Dayanara "Daya" Diaz from Netflix's Orange is the New Black, will also grace audiences with her presence ahead of her next project, the Warner Bros. adaptation of In The Heights.

In a bizarre Venn diagram of talent, audiences can look forward to performances from a Game of Thrones alum and a professional football player when Samaritan hits screens. Pilou Asbæk, better known as GoT's Euron Greyjoy, is credited in the film alongside former Miami Dolphins defensive end Jared Odrick.