Samaritan director Julius Avery says his upcoming superhero film will reveal a side of Sylvester Stallone that fans have never seen before.
Speaking to Total Film, Avery explains how Stallone's Joe Smith will be more fun than the simple-minded Rocky and the warrior-driven Rambo. "[Stallone] is nothing like the characters he's portrayed, like Rambo and Rocky," said Avery. "In real life, he's an extrovert prankster. He's got this really wicked sense of humour. And I think a lot of that will come through in this character he plays in our movie. He's not monosyllabic! It’s a character from Sly we haven't seen before."
In capturing Stallone's real-life sense of humor in the film, Avery was open to all input from the iconic superstar who earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2015's Creed. He took pride in Stallone's input not only as a filmmaker but also as a life-long fan. "To have the guy who wrote Rocky give you script notes? It's really cool," said Avery. "They were all just gold. I've still got them and I'm going to get them framed."
At 73 years old, Stallone remains prime for the action genre and Avery promises that Samaritan will be a big event movie. "We're going to see Sly do things he hasn't done in a long time, and in a really inventive way," said Avery. "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."
Stallone's Return to the Superhero Genre
Samaritan follows Joe Smith (Stallone), who works as a garbage man in the fictional Granite City. At one time, Smith was the city's protector under the alias Samaritan until an epic battle with a villain called Nemesis led to him disappearing from public life. When his young neighbor Sam (Euphoria and The Umbrella Academy's Javon "Wanna" Walton) befriends him and discovers his past identity, Smith gets teased out of retirement to face a new wave of crime and corruption across the city.
The film marks the Rocky actor's latest foray into superhero films. He'd previously appeared in several ventures in the genre, such as the critically-panned Judge Dredd in 1995 and a small role as Ravager Clan leader Stakar Ogord/Starhawk in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. Stallone is also one of few actors who has appeared in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe, as he voiced King Shark in James Gunn's 2021 flick The Suicide Squad.
According to Stallone, the heart and themes of Samaritan drew him to the project. "I love action films that also have heart," he said. "I wanted to be involved with Samaritan because this story has many layers that I think people can relate to. It's something of a morality tale that is also very exciting to watch. We are thrilled that this will be seen globally on Prime Video where my fans and all audiences can enjoy it together around the world."
Samaritan premieres on Amazon Prime Video on August 26.
Source: Total Film