Sylvester Stallone plays a former superhero trying to put his past behind him in Amazon’s new action film Samaritan, which debuts Friday.
However, his young neighbor, played by Javon “Wanna” Walton is convinced the lowly garbageman is actually the titular unbreakable hero, who saved Granite City 25 years ago from his evil twin, a nemesis named, well, Nemesis.
Game of Thrones vet Pilou Asbæk plays a gang leader who idolizes Nemesis, and wants to take over the city.
The movie wasn’t based on an existing comic, and Sly’s character isn’t your typical supe, Stallone said at a recent press event. “You can’t do 29-year-old Rambo kind of a thing because you also have to honor who you are, your age — that’s the part of it: That you’re not who you were, but you’re still there.“
He adds of his character, who goes by Joe, while he’s been in hiding: “His strength would be in his resolve and he still has great physical power as opposed to speed. He can’t fly…He’s not jumping through the air. He’s not that kind of guy.”
Sly adds he’s, “a hero that is very regular and does irregular things…It’s like if Rocky was a superhero, it’s something that is identifiable and street-like.”
He says of the film, “It’s not set in some super fantastic universe. It’s set among brick and concrete and identifiable situations that we all the neighborhoods we live in. And that’s what I liked about it.”
As for his young neighbor, Joe reluctantly takes a shine to him, even as he’s forcing him back into the superhero business. “And this kid is dragging me back into my memories. He’s making me face who I was. I don’t want to go there. I left it behind.”
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