Action movie superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson faces down the dreaded Krampus in the latest look at Amazon’s upcoming Christmas outing, Red One. Sharing an image of his character to social media, Commander of the E.L.F. Callum Drift, staring down the demonic version of Santa Claus, Johnson finally confirms once and for all that The Krampus will indeed be the villain of the piece.
“Sometimes Christmas mythology is scary,” Johnson says in a caption alongside this latest image. “This is Krampus. Yup, that’s his torso and this is a big problem.” It certainly is a big problem, with The Krampus towering over the living behemoth that is The Rock. “Our #RedOne sets have been pretty impressive and wild and these Christmas lore monsters are quite spectacular,” the actor adds. “Can’t wait for you to see. More to come. ~ Commander of the E.L.F.”
For those whose Christmas’ have not yet been ruined by knowledge of The Krampus, this particular monster is a legend that harks from Central Europe. Described as the yin to Santa Claus’ yang, The Krampus punishes misbehaving children, either beating them with branches or making them disappear. Stuffing them into his sack and taking them off to his lair to be tortured or eaten, The Krampus has starred in many movies over the years, including the Christmas horror comedy Krampus back in 2015.
No doubt we will all be glad to have The Rock on our side when Red One comes around.
Red One will not only feature a battle between The Rock and The Krampus, but also the long-awaited team-up between Johnson and Marvel star Chris Evans. With Johnson set to star as Callum Drift, the Commander of the E.L.F., Evans will star as everyman Jack O’Malley, who finds himself dragged into this battle to save Christmas.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, with a script written by Chris Morgan, and from an original story by Hiram Garcia, Red One also stars the likes of Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Lucy Liu (Kill Bill), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Nick Kroll (Don’t Worry Darling), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), and Wesley Kimmel (The Book of Boba Fett), and Bonnie Hunt (Jumanji, Toy Story 4) as Mrs. Claus.
Spider-Man: No Way Home and Whiplash star J.K. Simmons will play a superhero Santa Claus in Red One, with Johnson having heaped praise on his Academy Award-winning co-star. “Santa the rockstar. It’s an honor having his six,” Johnson said of starring alongside Simmons. “Another solid work week in the books on our Christmas movie, RED ONE. Academy Award winner and coolest dude in the North Pole, J.K. Simmons bringing Santa’s big ol’ beautiful heart to life. More to come. Back to work.”
Red One does not yet have a release date, but is expected to be released just in time for the 2023 holiday season and exclusively on Prime Video, with the project being planned as the first outing in a potential Christmas-action franchise for the streaming platform.
