Viola Davis unveiled first-look photos ofThe Woman King, an upcoming historical epic that takes place in the historical Kingdom of Dahomey. Davis will play the lead named Nanisca, who is the general of an all-female military, and newcomerUnderground Railroad’s Thuso Mbedu will play an ambitious recruit named Nawi.
In theSonyfilm, the pair will embark on a revenge journey to fight off neighbors who violated their honor, enslaved their people, and destroyed their livelihoods. The film will be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, who recently madeNetflix’sThe Old Guard.
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The Woman Kingis inspired by a true story similar to what happened in the Kingdom of Dahomey. It has been in development since 2018 and Lupita Nyong’o was attached to play Nawi before she dropped out and was replaced by Mbedu. The film was initially greenlit followingthe success ofBlack Panther. Filming began in November 2021 in South Africa and other than that, there have been few updates about the movie. That all changed last night when Davis released photos of her in character on Twitter.
Davis captioned the photos, adding that she feels honored and excited to bring this particular story to life. Interestingly enough, this is her first time playing an action star. She has appeared ina handful of DCEU movies as Amanda Waller, sure, but the nature of that character is her using her wit and power to get other people to do her bidding. So, these images came in as a bit of deviation from what fans are used to Davis playing and that’s what makes it so exciting.
It’s nice to see films finally explore the richness of the world’s history. This will open up doors for fans to create new fandoms and know about different mythologies that are just as rich and satisfactory as the ones they grew up with.The Woman Kingalso stars Lashana Lynch, John Boyega, Adrienne Warren, Sheila Atim, Jayme Lawson, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Prince-Bythewood penned the final draft of the script with Dana Stevens, who also wrote the original.
The Woman Kingwill premiere in theaters on September 16th, 2022.
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