Charlie Hunnam appears shirtless (briefly) in the newest trailer for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword , and fans are going wild over all of the action and plot points that the new trailer teases.
As Entertainment Weekly reports , the newest King Arthur trailer is a departure from the teaser trailer, which dropped at Comic-Con a year ago. The previous trailer focused on the more intense and dramatic aspects of the story, while the newest trailer gives more of a glimpse into the scope of the story. In addition to providing a glimpse into what may be some comic relief, you also get to see Charlie Hunnam shirtless, however briefly. So there’s that.
For those who can’t watch videos, the trailer begins with King Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) dragging his sword, Excalibur, along the ground.
In a voice-over, Charlie-as-King-Arthur says, “I am here now because of you. You created me. For that, I bless you.”
Officially, it’s not clear who the “you” is. But as Nerdist writer Blair Marnell opines, he’s likely talking to his uncle, King Vortigern (Jude Law), who killed Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana), when Arthur was a boy, taking the kingdom and leaving Arthur an orphan.
The trailer then gets into the background of the story and the meat of director Guy Ritchie’s take on the ancient legend. In Ritchie’s version, an orphaned Arthur grows up in poverty, getting by in the back alleys on his wits. His life changes when he pulls his sword, Excalibur, from the stone, sealing his fate as the once and future king. The trailer also shows a bit of a furious Arthur plotting his revenge.
King Arthur Poster Director: Guy Ritchie pic.twitter.com/qVT9GfqoaG
— Motion Picture Arts (@MPAs_Gallery) January 21, 2017
Beyond Arthur’s motivation, the trailer also provides a look at what kind of movie King Arthur is shaping up to be. There’s plenty of horses, swords, armor, magic, monsters, and armies battling on crumbling bridges.
Besides Hunnam, Law, and Bana, other actors attached to King Arthur include Kamil Lemieszewski, who is reportedly playing Merlin, or a character based on the legendary wizard. Astrid Berges-Frisbey ( Alaska ), Djimon Hounsou ( The Legend of Tarzan ), and Aidan Gillen ( Game of Thrones ) round out the principal cast.
Joby Harold and Ritchie and Lionel Wigram wrote the screenplay, with a story by David Dobkin and Joby Harold. David Dobkin and Bruce Berman are the executive producers.
Back in July, director Guy Ritchie sat down with Entertainment Weekly to lay out his vision for King Arthur .
“I think where the pitfall has often been is trying to make King Arthur bland and nice, and nice and bland. The two qualities make rather compatible bed companions. Unfortunately, they’re not interesting to watch. Luke Skywalker was always the most uninteresting character in Star Wars because he’s the good guy. Good guys are boring.”
Hunnam seemed a natural fit for the role of a protagonist with a lot of baggage; his experience on Sons of Anarchy , where he played a tough-as-nails biker with a heart of gold but a less-than-exemplary moral compass, helps him fill out the role of Arthur. Hunnam himself admitted that Guy Ritchie’s Arthur takes a page out of Jax Teller’s playbook.
“He’s a little bit rough around the edges, but he’s basically a survivor. He’s a hustler. He’s a street kid. There’s definitely a harder edge to him than people would imagine. It’s sort of classic Guy Ritchie stuff.”
Charlie Hunnam and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword will hit theaters on May 12.
[Featured Image by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images]
