LAS VEGAS – Viola Davis is blazing back to the big screen.
The Oscar winner, who can currently be seen as Michelle Obama in Showtime’s “The First Lady,” takes on her fiercest role yet in “The Woman King” (in theaters Sept. 16), which debuted its first trailer Monday at CinemaCon.
The historical epic stars Davis as Nanisca, the general of an all-female military unit in the West African kingdom of Dahomey. In the action-packed first footage, Davis is shown warning John Boyega’s King Ghezo of invaders who “will not stop until the whole of Africa is theirs.” She proceeds to train and lead the “most elite warriors the world has ever known,” with a cast including Tony winner Adrienne Warren (“Tina”) and “No Time to Die” breakout Lashana Lynch.
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Viola Davis kicks butt in ‘The Woman King’
Davis was on hand at Caesars Palace to present the trailer to an ecstatic audience of movie theater owners, who greeted her with a standing ovation. The actress/producer is the first-ever recipient of the annual convention’s Trailblazer of the Year award.
“The five words I don’t want to take to my grave would be ‘I was not brave enough,’ ” Davis said. Throughout her career, she explained, she has made it her mission to “play characters that had never been seen before in a body like mine.”
“When ‘The Woman King’ was brought to me, I knew it was divine intervention,” she said. “It was my magnum opus,” and for moviegoers, it will “really rock your world.”
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood further teased that Davis “kicks (butt) in this film,” while TriStar Pictures president Nicole Brown likened it to “real-life ‘Black Panther,’ ” referencing Marvel’s groundbreaking Black-led blockbuster.
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A sneak peek at ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’
Speaking of superhero films, CinemaCon attendees got to watch the first 15 minutes of next year’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” the sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” The rough footage featured Hailee Steinfeld’s Spider Gwen teaming up against the villainous Vulture with Issa Rae’s Jessica Drew and Oscar Isaac’s Miguel O’Hara, both of whom have Spider personas.
“Spider-Verse” will be split into two parts, with the second installment, “Beyond the Spider-Verse,” set for release in 2024.
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Bad Bunny set to star as Marvel’s ‘El Muerto,’ after his role in ‘Bullet Train’
Sony Pictures also announced during Monday’s presentation that Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known by stage name Bad Bunny, is set to portray the title role in “El Muerto,” making history as Marvel’s first Latino lead in a live-action film.
Before suiting up as the super-powered wrestler, the Puerto Rican rapper will make his big-screen acting debut in the neon-drenched “Bullet Train” (in theaters July 29), doing battle with Brad Pitt. The movie’s director, David Leitch (“Deadpool 2”), presented an extended look at footage from the comedic action-thriller, which highlighted Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry as bloody, quippy criminals in search of a missing briefcase.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bad Bunny is ‘El Muerto,’ Viola Davis kicks butt, ‘Spider-Verse’ peek
