Daniel Kaluuya mesmerizes as Black Panther Fred Hampton in Judas And The Black Messiah trailer

Today, in One Hell Of A First Impression news: Warner Bros. dropped the first trailer for its upcoming Black Panther drama Judas And The Black Messiah, underscoring a whole bunch of shots of Lakeith Stanfield looking nervous, and Jesse Plemons looking smug, with footage of Academy Award nominee Daniel Kaluuya going for the double with his riveting take on party chairman Fred Hampton.

Hampton, 21, was a rising star in the Black Panther Party in 1969, when he was shot and killed by Chicago police—assisted by informant William O’Neal (Stanfield), who we see get the screws put to him in the trailer by Plemons’ gloating cop. But the real focus is on Kaluuya, fresh off last year’s Queen & Slim, and imbuing Hampton with a hypnotic dose of high-octane charisma. Despite being director Shaka King’s first studio feature, Judas And The Black Messiah has announced itself with a shocking degree of surety; we’ll have to wait to see if it can live up to that promise when it arrives in theaters next year.