The new Robin Hood show from MGM is lush, beautiful and genuinely intriguing.
Sean Bean as the Sheriff of Nottingham? Inspired. As I’ve said for years, the villain maketh the show, and Bean brings exactly the kind of weight you want in a period piece like this.
Robin Hood is arguably the original superhero. He's the template for every masked vigilante who followed and, more importantly for studios, the ultimate public domain property. Nobody owns him. Anyone can reinterpret the myth and slap “Robin Hood” on the box.
Sound familiar? Hold that thought.
Now, what’s missing so far in this shiny new version isn’t the acting (solid), the direction (slick), the set design (chef’s kiss), or even the music (though I’d trade the sappy strings for a little Celtic harp).
The real absence is simple:
Fun.
I get what they’re going for. “Game of Thrones” grit without CGI dragons, sold to an audience that’s always hungry for the next serious, prestige-washed, brooding epic.
Hollywood sees one hit and immediately thinks, “A lick of paint, move a few chairs, fool ‘em twice.” And yes, sometimes they’re right. But as we saw this summer with the abrupt cancellation of Wheel of Time, three seasons into what was supposed to be a decade-long run, it’s not always that simple.
You know why the 1938 Errol Flynn film is still the gold standard after almost ninety years?
It’s not the acting (good but not Oscar material).
It’s not the writing (pulpy).
It’s not the direction or sets (good for their day).
It’s because that movie is fun.
A silly outfit, a bow and arrow, a grin that could cut glass. Flynn makes that film sing.
This new version? Serious. Brooding. Beautifully shot misery.
All good things.
But not a lot of joy.
I’m only two episodes in, so maybe Robin will eventually stop crying long enough to shoot something, smile at someone, or crack even a tiny joke. The setup isn’t bad — but drama only pays off if we eventually get some brightness to contrast it.
For my part, the Flynn film is still under copyright for another decade. The minute it hits the public domain, I’ll be putting it on my YouTube channel.
Until then, you’ll have to settle for the 1922 Douglas Fairbanks silent version, which I’ve just uploaded.
Best watched with some Clannad for musical accompaniment.
Or maybe the Indiana Jones soundtrack.
This is the first film in a new section I’m adding to my channel alongside the serials. At the moment, anything made before 1929 is public domain. Every year, a new batch opens up, and every now and then something slips into the PD through a paperwork miracle (hello, 1960s copyright renewals).
Robin Hood himself isn’t someone I’m dying to use in my Public Domain Super Heroes universe but he could show up someday. He certainly checks all my boxes thematically.
One of my core pillars with Public Domain Super Heroes is taking beloved, square-jawed white-guy heroes and giving them a makeover. Sometimes that means race-bending, gender-bending, or dropping a character into a brand-new era.
But with Robin Hood, if I want to keep the historical setting, I’m a little boxed in. An Asian Robin Hood would make no historical sense, and Robin Hood as a woman has already been done more than once. Not saying “never,” just “not my first choice.”
Still, I may find a place for him.
Plenty of characters, like Kull of Atlantis, I am including in almost-original form… with major worldbuilding changes. My Atlantis is not Robert E. Howard’s. My Kull does not follow Howard’s timeline. I plucked him up and dropped him straight into my universe.
That’s the joy of the public domain.
Nobody gets to tell me “you can’t do that”. Well, almost nobody.
My very first Amazon review (thank you, sincerely) came from someone who read Swords in the House of Horus and was upset enough by my version of Kull to leave a one-star review.
They felt my Kull wasn’t an “honest attempt at telling a Kull tale.”
And they’re right. It isn’t Howard’s Kull.
It’s mine, in my world, rewritten to serve my universe’s mythology.
I’ve since clarified that in the book description, because that kind of misunderstanding is on me.
But here’s the thing:
I’m going to do it again. And again.
With every character I can legally use who sparks something in me.
And through all of it, every tweak, every shift, every reinvention, I’m holding myself to one promise:
I make them fun.
Drama? Yes.
Tragedy? Occasionally.
Action? Constantly.
But the stories themselves?
They’re fun. They should be fun.
These characters deserve that.
If you’ve stuck with me this far, you’re already part of what I’m building. And if you enjoyed one of my books, the single most powerful thing you can do is leave a review on Amazon.
It doesn’t have to be long. Two sentences is enough.
But those two sentences make a world of difference. Not just for sales, but for visibility, momentum, and future projects.
A book sale keeps the lights on for a day.
A review keeps this whole operation moving for years.
If you like what I’m doing, tell the world.
I’ll keep writing the fun stuff.
You spread the word.
Deal?
