The prospect of Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, and Charlize Theron starring in a film together is so enticing that we’ll even give it the benefit of the doubt when it’s for the least-desired prequel/sequel in recent memory. 2012’s dreadfully dull Snow White and the Huntsman had some occasionally interesting visual touches, sure, but the reason to go ahead with a Kristen Stewart-less follow-up is indeed a puzzling one.
Yet, Universal pushed forward with The Huntsman: Winter’s War, which brings back Chris Hemsworth, teaming him with Chastain’s character as they fight off the sister duo played by Theron and Blunt. Directed by visual effects supervisor Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who worked on the previous feature, it looks to take a bit from Frozen, as glimpsed at in the first trailer, but it remains to be seen if there’s a need to tell this story. Check it out below along with the posters, for the film also starring Nick Frost and Rob Brydon.
Update: See the second trailer below.
The fantastical world of Snow White and the Huntsman expands to reveal how the fates of The Huntsman Eric and Queen Ravenna are deeply and dangerously intertwined. Chris Hemsworth and Oscar® winner Charlize Theron return to their roles in The Huntsman Winter’s War, an epic action-adventure in which they are joined by Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain, as well as director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. Producer Joe Roth (Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland) once again leads the team in a breathtaking new tale nested in the legendary saga.
Long before the evil Queen Ravenna (Theron) was thought vanquished by Snow White’s blade, she watched silently as her sister, Freya (Blunt), suffered a heartbreaking betrayal and fled their kingdom. With Freya’s ability to freeze any enemy, the young ice queen has spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen—including Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior Sara (Chastain)—only to find that her prized two defied her one demand: Forever harden your hearts to love.
When Freya learns of her sister’s demise, she summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But once she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the wicked sisters threaten this enchanted land with twice the darkest force it’s ever seen. Now, their amassing army shall prove undefeatable…unless the banished huntsmen who broke their queen’s cardinal rule can fight their way back to one another.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War opens on April 22nd, 2016.