The new trailer for ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ is here

With less than a month until the anticipated new historical drama Judas and the Black Messiah drops in theatres and on HBO Max in the U.S., Warner Bros. has released a brand new trailer featuring stars Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Black Panther) and LaKeith Stanfield (Selma). Ahead of its February 12 premiere, the company unveilled a two-plus minute look that sets up the intense relationship between career thief William O’Neal (Stanfield) and Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton (Kaluuya). Based on true events, the trailer showcases O’Neal as he is offered a plea deal to infiltrate the chapter and grow close to Hampton. “The Black Panthers are the single greatest threat to our national security,” J. Edgar Hoover, played by Martin Sheen, says in the trailer. “Our counter-intelligence program must prevent the rise of a Black Messiah.”

In the new trailer it seems pretty clear that this timely film will be as much about O’Neal’s journey trying to preserve himself while appeasing his FBI handler (played by Jesse Plemons) as it is about his learning the importance of fighting for the revolution. And for Hampton’s character, the story is one of love, family and fighting, as his political powers grow exponentially. Add in some tense gun fights, a pregnancy, and a few well-timed speeches, and this trailer is the stuff that Oscar-winning movies are made of.

That’s all to be expected, of course, given how impactful the film’s first spine-tingling trailer was. That offering set up O’Neal as a masterful infiltrator (he eventually became head of Hampton’s security), as well as Hampton’s power as a revolutionary. The latter man’s influence in his community was wide-reaching and prevailing, and this second trailer takes that portrayal one step further. The film is expected to trace the journey between O’Neal and Hampton all the way to its tragic, real-life ending.

“I really wanted to go on this journey and delve into this time and understand this time,” Kaluuya recently told Entertainment Weekly while promoting the film. “I felt blessed to be a vessel to allow this story to happen, because so many people have tried to make it happen and it hasn’t come to pass. Him as a man speaks to my spirit, and because there’s so much information about his death, the idea of making something about his life really drew me in.”

In a separate interview with the publication, Stanfield revealed that he cried “at both the tragedy and the beauty of the story being told,” after he first read the script. “I was like, ‘I can’t wait to play Fred. Obviously, that’s who you’re thinking about me for, right? Because I know you ain’t thinking about me for that other dude.’” When the powers-that-be confirmed that they indeed wanted him to play O’Neal, the actor looked him up on Google. “I was like, ‘Damn, I kinda look like this dude.’”

Judas and the Black Messiah reunites Kaluuya with his Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, who serves as an executive producer on the film. Shaka King directs in his studio feature debut, and also co-wrote the script. Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Dominique Thorne, Amari Cheatom, Caleb Eberhardt, and Lil Rel Howery round out the cast.

The film was originally supposed to be released last August. It now drops on HBO Max in the States on February 12, but it will only be available in theatres and for home purchase through affiliates here in Canada. It will also debut this month as part of Sundance’s 2021 film festival lineup.

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