First Look At Pacific Rim's Charlie Hunnam As King Arthur

07/23/2015 09:49 am EDT

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly reveals the first official look at Charlie Hunnam as the titular hero in Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur.

Hunnam, the star of Sons of Anarchy and Pacific Rim, will play an edgier version of the British hero in the new film, directed by Guy Ritchie.

"He's a little bit rough around the edges, but he's basically a survivor. He's a hustler," Hunnam says. "He's a street kid. There's definitely a harder edge to him than people would imagine. It's sort of classic Guy Ritchie stuff."

"I think where the pitfall has often been is trying to make King Arthur bland and nice, and nice and bland," Ritchie says. "The two qualities make rather compatible bed companions. Unfortunately, they're not interesting to watch. Luke Skywalker was always the most uninteresting character in Star Wars because he's the good guy. Good guys are boring."

This version of Arthur is an orphan taken in by three prostitutes living in 5th century London, but don't let the grittiness of Hunnam's character or Ritchie's vision fool you into thinking this will be a magic-lite version of the Arthurian legend, like Antoine Fuqua's 2004 King Arthur. The director promises a plenty of spectacle, including giant snakes, war elephants, and a monstrous "Viking-like" creature called The Nemesis.

Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur opens July 22, 2016. Check out the full EW cover below.

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.