Hugh Jackman and Director Michael Sarnoski Discuss the Demise of Robin Hood and the Implications of Dismantling a Legend

      There’s a moment in The Death of Robin Hood where Hugh Jackman takes a genuine, weary breath.

      The actor and his on-screen rival had been wrestling in actual mud, portraying intense, chaotic hand-to-hand combat. At last, Jackman’s Robin gains the advantage. Yet both actors, like their characters, were exhausted.

      “I get to climb on top of him and essentially deliver the final strike. And as I was doing that, I was so fatigued that I just laid on him and caught my breath,” the actor reflects.

      “I thought, ‘We should actually keep this.’ When you’re fighting someone to the death, there’s a unique intimacy since you’re all in each other’s space and bodies. So, lying on someone didn’t feel strange. ... Think of wrestling matches; you’re entangled with one another – just lying there and breathing, because neither of us had the energy to move.”

      That candid moment perfectly encapsulates the realism of Michael Sarnoski’s The Death of Robin Hood, which forgoes polished heroism in favor of a gritty portrayal of one of history's most iconic figures.

      The film ponders: What if Robin Hood wasn’t the hero he’s often depicted as in folklore?

      Our summer cover features Hugh Jackman in The Death of Robin Hood, directed by Michael Sarnoski. Photo by Aidan Monaghan / A24. Cover design by Ryan Ward.

      Jackman gained fame as the fierce mutant Wolverine, who, much like his version of Robin Hood, doesn’t shy away from rough battles. Jackman reprised an older, more rugged version of the X-Man in 2017’s Logan. However, for The Death of Robin Hood, Jackman has aged a decade, stripping away glamor to embody an English outlaw whose prime appears far behind him. He presents both humanity and monstrosity.

      “Robin Hood was a medieval thief, which means he killed many and stole. It’s not hard to envision a version of him as a pretty unpleasant individual,” Sarnoski explains. “I think altering that small detail opened a realm of possibilities.”

      The film is set in 1247 A.D., situated in the harsh terrain of the Celtic fringe, where Hood lives as an aging recluse braving the elements while waiting for a formidable foe to finally end his suffering.

      The idea for the film—shot over a 30-day period in Ireland and Northern Ireland—originated in Sarnoski’s childhood when the headmaster of his school shared an old book from the 1930s. It contained classical tales of the archer known for stealing from the rich to give to the needy.

      Writer-director Michael Sarnoski and Hugh Jackman on the set of The Death of Robin Hood. Photo by Aidan Monaghan / A24.

      “Robin has always held significant meaning for me,” Sarnoski shares. “There’s an ancient legend concerning the death of Robin Hood, involving an evil prioress, a wicked woman who kills the virtuous Robin. I found that story very compelling.

      “He’s this everlasting folk figure, and then to discover in that final chapter a profoundly quiet, human, simple death that many overlook—it struck me as a child, realizing, ‘Oh, my hero just passed away peacefully in a bedroom.’”

      Sarnoski, 31, grew up in Wisconsin before attending Yale. He gained recognition as a filmmaker in 2021 with the release of Pig, an independent drama featuring Nicolas Cage as a hermit seeking his beloved pig. The critically acclaimed film about loss and grief led to his opportunity to write and direct 2024’s A Quiet Place: Day One.

      Still, his childhood hero beckoned, prompting Sarnoski to begin crafting his unorthodox interpretation of the character as a writing exercise.

      “I approached writing Robin Hood with the thought, ‘Who needs another Robin Hood film?’ But I felt compelled to express this version I had in me, just to see how it turned out,” Sarnoski explains. “After writing it, I read it and thought, ‘Oh, wow. I actually want to make this.’

      “Many of the scripts I write start as an exercise I can’t shake, evolving into an obsession.”

      This is a shared obsession for Sarnoski: Robin Hood has appeared on screen numerous times since Errol Flynn's portrayal in the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood (which also inspired characters like Batman’s sidekick). He’s been interpreted by Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Cary Elwes, Taron Egerton, even as a cartoon fox, and Russell Crowe (in a 2010 Ridley Scott adaptation).

      To realize his vision for The Death of Robin Hood, Sarnoski delved deeply into the myth and discovered one of the earliest written mentions of the folk hero.

      “There’s an old excerpt from The Scotichronicon, a chronicle of Scottish history, which includes one of