A new A24 film starring Hugh Jackman strips away centuries of romantic varnish to reveal the violent, scarred man behind the myth, inspired by the original medieval ballads. In a movie world full of hero origin stories, director Michael Sarnoski is doing the opposite. He is telling the story of the end. His new film, ‘The Death of Robin Hood‘, stars Jackman as an aging outlaw haunted by a lifetime of violence. And according to Sarnoski, the basis for this dark new take comes from a deep look into the real roots of the Robin Hood legend.
“I was looking back to some of the earliest ballads about Robin, which were very brutal and intense,” Sarnoski said in a recent interview. The result, he says, is that “there’s actually a lot of authenticity to this version of Robin.” This focus on historical truth sets ‘The Death of Robin Hood‘ apart from the fun adventures of Errol Flynn or the cute animated fox from Disney.
Medieval Ballads Inspire Director Michael Sarnoski’s Gritty Vision
For Sarnoski, who is known for his well-regarded films ‘Pig‘ and ‘A Quiet Place: Day One‘, the path to this dark retelling began with the oldest known stories about the outlaw. Instead of focusing on the nicer, more polished additions to the legend, like Maid Marian or the noble return of King Richard the Lionheart, the director took his ideas from the medieval ballads that started it all.
Experts point to a few key early ballads that are central to the Robin Hood story, including Robin Hood and the Monk, Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, Robin Hood and the Potter, and the Lytyll Geste of Robyn Hode. These are not tales of a noble hero fighting for justice in a polite way. They are rough, violent, and morally gray stories of a rebellious outlaw trying to stay alive in a harsh and unforgiving world. Even the ballad about the hero’s death, “Robin Hood’s Death,” which survives in later copies, is full of betrayal and grim fate.
“The combats at that time were brutal. It wasn’t people dancing around fencing. It was people in the mud trying to smash each other’s skulls in with a shovel,” Sarnoski told one outlet. This captures the raw, realistic feel of his film. This is not a Hollywood version of medieval fighting. It is a return to a world where violence was a simple, ugly, and unavoidable part of life.
Hugh Jackman’s Robin Hood Faces His Violent Past
This view of Robin Hood as a violent, almost scary figure is central to the movie’s idea. In the trailer, Jackman’s tired outlaw admits, “I’ve killed so many people that I couldn’t give you a number. It’s a curse.” This is not the happy rebel who steals from the rich. This is a man who has done terrible things and now has to face what he has done.
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“He was a murderous outlaw who did a lot of terrible things and was almost monstrous,” Sarnoski explained, talking about the character’s inner struggle. The heart of the story is the deep gap between the man’s real past and the heroic legend that has grown around him. “But he lived long enough to see this folklore created around him,” Sarnoski continues. “He’s trying to understand how he feels about that, about being presented as a hero when he knows what he really was.”
This conflict is at the center of the film’s look at storytelling and legacy. Robin is not just dealing with his past violence; he is also dealing with how that violence has been turned into a myth. As Sarnoski noted, “Even he and Little John especially aren’t 100% sure which of these things were stories and which were real in some way, because I think even in our own lives we have that, where our memories become these stories that we just tell each other.”
Jodie Comer Joins Hugh Jackman in a Story of Redemption and Salvation
Even with its brutal first part, which Sarnoski says is meant to be “unpleasant” to shake the audience and show them who Robin really is, the film is ultimately about a search for humanity and a chance at redemption. The story follows a badly wounded Robin who is taken in and cared for by a mysterious prioress, played by Jodie Comer. At a priory, he is given a rare chance at salvation, forcing him to look back on his life and think about a different path.
“The initial idea for the movie was I wanted to humanize these characters from this old legend and really understand them,” Sarnoski stated. “Part of that is understanding the authenticity of the period and studying the brutality of the old ballads.” This unusual approach, finding the humanity in a man by exploring the harshness of his world, is what drives Sarnoski’s vision.
By getting rid of the shiny surface of modern retellings and going back to the rough, muddy origins of the legend, Michael Sarnoski has created a Robin Hood story for today; one that finds truth not in grand speeches, but in the quiet, troubled thoughts of a dying man who finally sees himself for who he really is.
‘The Death of Robin Hood‘ comes to theaters on June 19.
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