Published Sep 2, 2026, 12:01 PM EDT
Adam Blevins began working in the entertainment industry in 2022 as a Staff Writer for Agents of Fandom, where he progressed to Senior Editor and interviewed talent from Marvel Studios, House of the Dragon, and Planet of the Apes. He joined Collider as a News Author in April 2024, was promoted to a Senior position in December 2024, and has written over 3,000 articles for the site, including exclusives relating to Avengers: Doomsday, The Penguin, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and more. He primarily writes about the latest box office numbers and the hottest movies and TV shows on streaming, while also covering superhero and sci-fi news. He has completed a set visit for The Chosen and even has several months of experience writing Gaming Features at ScreenRant. You can find him on X, LinkedIn, and Muckrack.
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Joel Kinnaman has quietly blossomed into one of the most recognizable action stars in the world, even if he does have some duds in his filmography like the 2014 failed RoboCop reboot. Enough time has passed that Prime Video is already taking a turn at rebooting the sci-fi franchise with Dan Stevens at the helm, so any of Kinnaman’s sins from starring in the movie have largely been forgiven. Kinnaman took his talents to Netflix earlier this year to star in the latest Jo Nesbø crime thriller, Detective Hole, which has still not been renewed for Season 2 despite racking up millions of hours watched during its initial viewership period. Flip over to Prime Video, though, to see Kinnaman starring in one of the platform’s most popular hits of the year, Icefall, which is a mash-up of John Wick and The Grey.
Those who have been following Joel Kinnaman’s career for a while now know one thing: if you don’t like his latest movie, you usually don’t have to wait long to see him star in another action-heavy project. This afternoon, Aura officially announced that Kinnaman’s next action thriller, The Beast, is coming to theaters on October 9 — Aura even dropped a pulse-pounding first trailer to go along with the exciting announcement. Samuel L. Jackson and Guy Burnet also star in the film, which was directed by Renny Harlin. The official synopsis for The Beast reads as follows: “When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the U.S., the president uncovers the extent of The Beast’s highly classified offensive capabilities in order to save his life and America.”
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
According to critics, the highest-rated movie of Joel Kinnaman’s career is the 2021 Suicide Squad reboot film. Kinnaman also reprised his role as Rick Flag last year in Peacemaker Season 2. Following not far behind Suicide Squad is the 2010 R-rated Swedish blockbuster, Easy Money, which holds a strong 85% from critics on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Both critics and audiences were also hot on Kinnaman’s 2024 action film, The Silent Hour, which is the perfect blend of John Wick and A Quiet Place. Those interested in checking out the film on streaming can find it as part of Hulu’s streaming library.
Check out the official trailer for The Beast above and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Joel Kinnaman’s future projects.