Oscar-winning Viola Davis leads a fearless all-female African combat unit into battle in the first trailer for The woman kingwhich fell on Wednesday.
“We’ve got a weapon they’re not prepared for,” an ominous voiceover says at one point during the trailer, followed by General Nansica, played by Davis, rising from the undergrowth of the jungle and surrounded by Agojie, a group of African warrior women ready for battle against European invaders.
With echoes from Black Panther, the trailer shows the all-female military unit training and being spurred on by a fiercely determined Nansica. The woman king is inspired by true events that took place in the kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states in Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The story follows Nanisca and Nawi, played by Thuso Mbedu as an ambitious recruit, who fight together against enemies who violated their honor, enslaved their people and threatened to destroy everything they have lived for. “I offer you a choice. Fight or we die,” Nansica tells her intrepid recruits.
John Boyega plays Dahomey’s ruler, King Ghezo, who is urged by Nansica to resist Europeans seeking to conquer their kingdom. “They will not stop until all of Africa is theirs. We must fight back, for our people,” she tells King Ghezo.
The woman king is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dana Stevens. The producer credits are shared by Davis, Cathy Schulman, Julius Tennon and Maria Bello, with Peter McAleese as executive producer.
The woman king will hit theaters on September 16.