Sylvester Stallone is a washed-up superhero in gritty trailer for Amazon's 'Samaritan'

Four years after the release of Overlord, director Julius Avery finally returns on the scene with another subversive genre film, Samaritan, which aims to put a gritty and down-to-Earth spin on established comic book tropes. Hitting Prime Video in late August, the film stars Rocky Balboa and John Rambo himself — Sylvester Stallone — as a washed-up superhero who has gone from cleaning up crime to cleaning up garbage.

Now believed dead by most of the general public, this hollow shell of a man gets a chance to relive the glory days when his young neighbor, Sam Cleary (Javon "Wanna" Walton), works out his true identity and attempts to coax the bitter man out of retirement. The hero once known as Samaritan doesn't have much a choice in the matter when unsavory parties (like Pilou Asbæk's central villain) start to wreak havoc throughout the city he once swore to protect. 

“We didn’t really have superheroes,” Avery said of his '80s upbringing while chatting with Total Film last year. “We only had action heroes. And Sly was the closest thing we had to a superhero. So to put him in a superhero movie? That feels fresh and cool and something that people will get a kick out of.”

Watch the trailer below:

 "This is a big event movie – we see our heroes kicking ass," Avery continued. “We’re going to see Sly do things he hasn’t done in a long time, and in a really inventive way. He’s 73 years old! I’m amazed by how much he actually does. I’m telling you, most guys in their twenties wouldn’t be able to do what Sly does in this movie.”

Dascha Polanco (DC League of Super-Pets) and Moises Arias (City of Ghosts) round out the cast. Escape Room writer Bragi F. Schut penned the script. 

Stallone produced the feature alongside Braden Aftergood (Nobody). Schut, David Kern (Candyman), Adam Rosenberg (Creed III), and Guy Riedel (John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum) serve as executive producers.

Principal photography began in early 2020, but was forced to shut down amidst growing concerns for the COVID-19 pandemic. This delay in production resulted in its release being postponed until Amazon Studios — which acquired MGM for $8 billion in May of 2021 — announced that the title would go directly to streaming earlier this month.

Samaritan lands on Prime Video Friday, Aug. 26.

SAMARITAN (2022) Poster Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures

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