Charlie Hunnam Seeks Revenge In The New ‘King Arthur’ Teaser

The film drops May 12

by daniel barna

The legend of Camelot is about to get an explosive update. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is Guy Ritchie's hotly anticipated reimagining of the classic tale as we can see in the brand-new teaser, which has the bold British auteur's fingerprints all over it. Gone are the fantasy flourishes that made the original story so beloved. What we have here is an all-out revenge movie, with Charlie Hunnam's Arthur looking to settle the score with Jude Law's Vortigern. 

“I am here now because of you. You created me. For that, I bless you,” Hunnam's Arthur says in the teaser while dragging his trademark sword, Excalibur behind him. In the film, Vortigern murdered Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana), and seized the throne. Now it's up to Arthur to, well, seize it back. 

And who better than Hunnam—who's poised for a big year—to bring this badass version of the classic character to life. "He's a little bit rough around the edges, but he's basically a survivor. He's a hustler,” Hunnam said of his character. "He's a street kid. There's definitely a harder edge to him than people would imagine."

Ritchie, meanwhile, confirmed that his take on the classic character is meant to subvert our notion of what a hero is. "I think where the pitfall has often been is trying to make King Arthur bland and nice, and nice and bland," he told Entertainment Weekly recently. "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."

We'll finally get to see Ritchie's take when King Arthur: Legend of the Sword hits theaters May 12. In the meantime, watch the teaser above.