In the 1987 original, RoboCop’s faithful partner was Ann Lewis, played by Nancy Allen. But as the viral trailer for Jose Padilha’s remake has already suggested, the new RoboCop will be rather different from Paul Verhoeven’s original.
As if to prove the point, Michael Kenneth Williams is in talks to become RoboCop’s new, as-yet-unnamed partner. Television watchers will know Williams from such hit shows as The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, where the actor’s earned deserved praise for his authentic, mesmerising performances.
He’s already earned the interest of director Steve McQueen, and will star alongside Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Brad Pitt in the forthcoming Twelve Years A Slave, an intense drama about a New Yorker kidnapped and sold into slavery in the mid-1800s.
Whatever you think about the prospects of a new RoboCop, it’s difficult to fault the quality of the eclectic cast Padilha’s slowly assembling. Gary Oldman and Samuel L Jackson are already involved (though it’s not yet clear how pivotal their roles will be), Hugh Laurie’s on board as the villain of the piece, while Joel Kinnaman will star as the part-man, part-machine law enforcer himself.
More news on the RoboCop remake as it comes in.
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