If you think the Dora Milaje (aka the king’s guard) in Black Panther is amazing, get ready to meet the real-life inspiration, the Agojie, in The Woman King. The film is a historical epic inspired by the true story of the Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states in Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The film stars Viola Davis as General Nanisca, who is building a new generation of all-female warriors to fight a new evil that has reached their shores. That evil? White European Colonialism. In the trailer, we see that threat arriving knowing all-too-well that they’re there to enslave Africa’s people.
But led by Nanisca, the Dahomey people are ready to fight back. “We have a weapon they’re not prepared for,” King Ghezo (John Boyega) says in the trailer, referring to the Agojie — and we see exactly what he means as the women first train and then head into battle against the colonialist threat.
“You are called to join the King’s Guard,” Nanisca tells her recruits as Beyonce’s ‘My Power” plays in the background. “No kingdom in all of Africa shares this privilege. Train hard, fight harder. We fear no one, and we fear no pain. I offer you a choice: fight or we die.”
The film also stars Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), Sheila Atim (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), and Thuso Mbedu (The Underground Railroad) as members of the Agojie.
The Woman King premieres in theaters Sept. 16. Watch the trailer below.
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