Is The Uprising A Robin Hood Movie? The Movie's Title & Andrew Garfield's Character Explained

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Andrew Garfield as the Ploghman dressed in a green robe in The Uprising

Published Sep 10, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

Richard Craig is a Senior Author at Screen Rant covering film and TV. Richard has also written extensively about horror and film soundtracks, contributing a chapter to the first major academic collection on the folk horror genre, The Routledge Companion to Folk Horror. Richard is also a performing musician and holds an MA in Music and Sound Art.

Whether or not Andrew Garfield is playing Robin Hood in The Uprising isn’t quite as clear-cut as it appears. For most of its marketing campaign, The Uprising was presented as a gritty drama about the 1381 Peasants' Revolt, with Andrew Garfield starring as a mysterious figure known only as the Ploughman. Trailers, posters, and official synopses focused on medieval England's growing unrest, the brutal taxation policies of King Richard II's government, and the rebellion that followed. Then, just weeks before release, audiences were confronted with a surprising new subtitle: The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood.

The sudden addition sparked widespread confusion. Some promotional materials encouraged audiences to "Witness the Rise of Robin Hood," while new artwork depicted Garfield wearing a hood and carrying a bow. At the same time, distributors in other territories insisted the film was not a Robin Hood movie at all and continued marketing it simply as The Uprising.

That mixed messaging left many wondering whether director Paul Greengrass had secretly made The Uprising into a Robin Hood origin story or whether the connection was being exaggerated for promotional purposes. The answer lies somewhere between history and folklore.

The Uprising Is Not A Robin Hood Movie

A close-up of Andrew Garfield looking shell-shocked in The Uprising

Despite the subtitle briefly suggesting otherwise, The Uprising is not a conventional Robin Hood movie. The story is set during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and follows Garfield's character, known only as the Ploughman, as he becomes involved in a rebellion against oppression and inequality. The film includes historical figures such as Wat Tyler and John Ball, anchoring the narrative firmly within a real historical event.

However, the choice of naming Garfield's character "The Ploughman" is significant. The name appears to reference Piers Plowman, William Langland's fourteenth-century poem that contains what is widely regarded as the earliest known literary reference to Robin Hood. Multiple reports surrounding the film have linked Greengrass' screenplay to Piers Plowman, suggesting that the connection is intentional rather than coincidental.

Viewed through that lens, the Ploughman appears less like Robin Hood himself and more like one of the figures who helped inspire the legend. Rather than adapting familiar stories involving Sherwood Forest, Little John, or the Sheriff of Nottingham, The Uprising explores the social conditions and popular movements that may have contributed to Robin Hood's emergence in English folklore.

The Uprising's focus remains on the Peasants’ Revolt. However, the themes of rebellion, injustice, and resistance against authority, would later become central to Robin Hood stories. It is fundamentally a historical drama, even if its protagonist can be interpreted as a precursor to England's most famous outlaw.

Why The Uprising Changed Its Subtitle To "The Rise of Robin Hood"

Andrew Garfield looks to the side in The Uprising

The marketing shift appears to have been an attempt to highlight The Uprising's connection to the mythology surrounding Robin Hood rather than reveal a surprise franchise reboot. Promotional campaigns briefly adopted the subtitle "The Rise of Robin Hood" and incorporated taglines emphasizing the birth of a legend, creating the impression that Garfield was playing the outlaw himself.

In reality, the subtitle (later called a tagline) reflects The Uprising's broader thematic ambitions. According to promotional materials, the story takes place during events that helped inspire the Robin Hood legend. Rather than depicting an established folk hero, the film explores the type of social upheaval that could give rise to one.

Garfield has described Robin Hood as an archetype that emerges during periods when ordinary people feel powerless and exploited. He explained that the film was interested in capturing the spirit of Robin Hood rather than simply retelling familiar stories. He explained to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The Robin Hood aspect is more of an emergent energy and archetype within our story. It’s a figure that starts to emerge from the unconscious and the ground during periods of time when common folk are feeling disempowered, abused, violated and separated from the dignity of living their own lives.”

Greengrass has made similar comments, explaining that Robin Hood's enduring popularity comes from stories about ordinary people standing up to authority when they feel abandoned by those in power. He has even revealed that an earlier working title for The Uprising was The Hood, demonstrating that the connection was present long before the marketing controversy erupted.

Ultimately, the subtitle appears designed to communicate that The Uprising is exploring the literary and thematic origins of Robin Hood. The Uprising is less interested in adapting the legend itself than examining how a figure like Robin Hood could emerge from real historical struggles, transforming a medieval revolt into the foundation of one of England's most enduring folk heroes.