Edgar Wright’s Running Man’s trailer obtains, reveals Glen Powell as Ben Richards, Josh Brolin as Killian and a Michael Cera electric
The first trailer for The Running Man is here, and it shows Glen Powell in a more faithful adaptation of Stephen King than the 1987 science fiction classic by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The trailer, below, shows that Ben Richards, warned of Glen Powell, enters the executed man – the biggest television program of this dystopian America – by a desperate need for money to help her sick daughter in the middle of a medical crisis. Powell’s employment status is declared “blacklist”, so it is unable to work. In the Arnie version, Richards is forced to man as a supervised cop.
The nature of the show itself is also different. Powell’s Richards is driven out by the whole country while he is clinging desperately to survival and a chance at huge cash prices. Each of its movements is viewed, and we see it in action in the trailer. All Richards must do is survive for 30 days and he won. Of course, it’s not that simple.
This new racing man is directed by Edgar Wright from Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver Fame, and you can feel his signature and fast style in the trailer. Wright spoke of his desire to adapt King’s novel more faithfully, and consequently we have Josh Brolin as Killian, the executive producer of the show and a distinct character (Bobby Thompson by Colman Domingo) welcoming the show itself. Richards has a few words of choice for Killian before embarking on the man in progress, and he promises to take revenge.
The scope of this new The Running Man is different from that of the 1987 film. Powell’s Richards is on the run across the country, while Richard’s of Arnie was confined to a closed playground (filled with affectionately recalled boss fights). The trailer teases a fun sequence where Richards runs an apartment in a corridor while dodging balls, then slide in an elevator to escape.
Richards is driven everywhere by a singular masked character whose identity remains a mystery. Maybe they are Arnie below? What we are sure is that the man in progress will see Glen Powell run. A lot. And yes, he takes off his shirt. We finally see Michael Cera, who played Scott Pilgrim in Wright’s film, helps Richards at one point by spraying the water on an electrified soil. All video games.
Running Man was launched on November 7, 2025.
Wesley is director, news at IGN. Find it on Twitter at @ wyp100. You can reach Wesley in Wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
