Sylvester Stallone Powers Up For Samaritan

In his new Prime Video action movie, Sly Stallone stars as a presumed-dead superhero who’s been hiding in the shadows for decades

Sylvester Stallone has been at the centre of some of Hollywood’s most lucrative film franchises in his respective roles as Rocky Balboa, John Rambo and The Expendables’ Barney Ross, and in his first project for Prime Video he introduces yet another. 

In Samaritan, Stallone stars as Joe Smith, a reclusive trash collector in fictional Granite City who’s hiding a big secret.  

Joe’s 13-year-old neighbour, Sam Cleary (Javon “Wanna” Walton), begins to suspect that there may be more to Joe than meets the eye when he delves into the legend of Samaritan, a super-powered vigilante who once fought crime in Granite City until perishing in a fiery warehouse battle with his rival, Nemesis, more than 20 years earlier.  Prime VideoBecause Samaritan’s body was never recovered, there are some who believe the hero is still alive, leading Sam to conclude the gentle garbage man and the presumed-dead superhero are one and the same.

With crime on the rise, Sam does everything he can to coax his neighbour out of hiding in order to save the city from imploding—but is the septuagenarian superhero still up to the task? Prime Video“This is a big event movie—we see  our heroes kicking a**,” Samaritan director Julius Avery said in an interview with TotalFilm. “We’re going to see Sly do things he hasn’t done in a long time, and in a really inventive way. He’s 73 years old! I’m amazed by how much he actually does. I’m telling you, most guys in their 20s wouldn’t be able to do what Sly does in this movie.”

Meanwhile, this isn’t the last viewers will see of Stallone on a streaming service in 2022. Come fall, he’ll be starring in his first-ever TV series, Tulsa King for Paramount+, playing a New York mobster who finds himself exiled to Oklahoma after serving a 25-year prison sentence. 

Samaritan airs Friday on Prime Video