Ahead of the film’s release, The Huntsman: Winter’s War has already seen its fair share of production difficulties leading up to its eventual April theatrical release. Subsequent to the controversy surrounding Kristen Stewart, who played the star of the preceding motion picture Snow White and the Huntsman in the Universal Pictures-backed franchise, this new fairy tale/fantasy epic will cover events that take place both before and after Snow White and the Huntsman – with a conflict that includes both forbidden love and a secret rivalry held between the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) and her sister Freya, The Ice Queen (Emily Blunt).
The Huntsman once again stars Chris Hemsworth as Eric the Huntsman from the previously-mentioned Snow White re-telling. He will be joined in the story here by fellow warrior, and problematic lover, Sara (Jessica Chastain) – with the Magic Mirror from the first film standing as the heated object of attention and strife throughout, as seen in the second trailer that Universal has released for Winter’s War.
Theron and Blunt exude a fiery sibling-rivalry throughout the latest footage featured above, and appear ready to take on the task of carrying the weight of the entire production via the strenghth of their particular talents. Meanwhile, Hemsworth and Chastain should serve as easily relatable heroes for the viewer to identify with and root for as the film’s lead heavies commit acts of vengeance and retribution against one another in The Huntsman: Winter’s War.
It remains to be seen whether or not director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan will be up to create an entertaining franchise spun out of Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman – a film that received a lukewarm reception, on its own. However, based on everything that has been shown from the film thus far, The Huntsman: Winter’s War could be a silly, yet entertaining and sprawling epic to whet the appetites of those love a fun (and pulpy) fantasy adventure romp.
Once the film finally sees theatrical release in two months time, viewers can decide for themselves just how well Hemsworth and company are able to continue the franchise going forward – without a character as seemingly important as, of course, Stewart’s Snow White. It’s stranger still to see such a monumental amount of attention being paid to Theron and Blunt in the marketing, though perhaps there will be more to see yet from Hemsworth and Chastain’s less over-the-top protagonists in the actual movie.
NEXT: The Huntsman Character Posters
The Huntsman: Winter’s War will see theatrical release in the U.S. on April 22nd, 2016.
