The Woman King trailer sees Viola Davis raise a fearsome army

Typically, when one thinks of historical war epics, one thinks of sword-and-sandal movies featuring long, wavy, white-haired sons of warriors. Gladiator Yes Troya Kingdom of Heaven Yes The Last Samurai. the woman king seems poised to restore that balance: an action-packed blockbuster from director Gina Prince-Bythewood, which tells the story of the Dahomey Amazons and their leader Nanisca, played with power and majesty by the legendary Viola Davis. The first trailer is out and shows a movie that looks pretty big, with battle scenes and an amazing cast. Check it out here.

They don’t mess with that, do they? Davis appears to be in excellent shape as Nanisca, along with Lashana Lynch, John Boyega, Metro‘sthuso Mbedu and Sheila Atim (who recently played a minor role in Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness). Here is the official synopsis:the woman king is the extraordinary story of Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the African kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century with a skill and ferocity the world had never seen before. Inspired by real facts, the woman king follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca (Oscar winner Viola Davis) as he trains the next generation of recruits and prepares them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life. There are things worth fighting for … ”

For Prince-Bythwood, who co-wrote the script with Dana Stevens, it marks her following as a Netflix executive. the old guard. We cross our fingers that the film lives up to the fire and ferocity of this trailer. We’ll find out when it hits UK cinemas from 4th October.