Martyn Fordhas broken into the mainstream like the Kool-Aid Man bursting through a wall. The actor, with the musculature of a bodybuilder and the cadence of a confident Englishman, has gone from social media workouts to starring in blockbusters (the ninthFast & Furiousfilm,the upcomingMortal Kombat 2) and streaming series (The SandmanandThose About to Die). He’s now playing the legendary giantGoliath in Prime Video’s new series,House of David, and will be playing an equally formidable villain in the upcoming remake ofRed Sonja. In an interview with MovieWeb, Ford told us that his mysterious character in that movie, General Karlak, is set to be visually “phenomenal,” so once can imagine Ford’s already intimidating physique combined with wild CGI.
Ford has been great at multifaceted but terrifying villains, and comparedRed Sonja’s Karlak (a villain of the future) to Goliath (a character from 3,000-year-old stories). “I think there’s always similarities between the ultimate bad guys and their mannerisms and their energies. I think ultimately the only thing that changes is that vehicle of why they do what they do,” explained Ford, adding:
“My character in Red Sonja, I’m not going to give too much away about that, is larger than life and a phenomenal visual to look at. I am not 100% sure on the release date of that, yet I am eager for that to come out, because I want to see it. I shot it — the filming was phenomenal for that — it was a while back that we shot that, so I hope that it will be out in the next couple of months. But all of these bad guys that I’ve had the privilege of playing all carry that Martyn-esque arrogance about them, and grandeur. I’d like to think that’s what I leave on the character.”
Red Sonja Reboot Will Change the Original’s ‘Male Gaze Orientation,’ According to Matilda Lutz
Red Sonja star Matilda Lutz says the reboot’s new direction is ‘very women-empowered.’
The ‘Red Sonja’ Remake Is Finally Being Released
TheRed Sonjareboothas traveled a long and bumpy road to get to theaters. Back in 2008, Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, Sin City) was working on a version with Rose McGowan. A few years after that, Simon West (Con Air, The Expendables 2) had planned on tackling the film. That fell apart, and a completely new script was written by Christopher Cosmos, which Bryan Singer was eventually confirmed to direct. Of course, when numerous sexual assault allegations against Singer surfaced in 2019, he and the film were dropped. After that, Joey Soloway (Transparent) was set to write, direct, and produce the film, which would’ve been extremely interesting.
That didn’t work out, of course, and eventually director M.J. Bassett (Deathwatch, Rogue) came in and rewrote the previous script from Soloway (and Tasha Huo). Bassett’s a good choice, considering her work on the underratedSolomon Kane, another sword-and-sorcery film. Red Sonja began filming in Nov. 2022 and was done in early 2023. While it was supposed to hit theaters in 2024, on Jul 12, 2025,it was announced thatRed Sonjawould premierein the UK at the end of 2025 from Signature Entertainment. In the meantime,House of Davidis streaming on Prime Video.
Enslaved by an evil tyrant who wishes to destroy her people, barbarian huntress Red Sonja must unite a group of unlikely warriors to face off against Dragan The Magnificent and his deadly bride, Dark Annisia.
