Michael B. Jordan is armed and ready for action in a new image from director Ryan Coogler's Sinners . Jordan leads the Sinners cast in dual-roles as twin brothers Elijah and Elias Smoke, with Hailee Steinfeld and Jack O'Connell also starring. As was teased in the first trailer, the movie follows Elijah and Elias as they return to their hometown, only to find themselves facing off against a terrifying evil. It has been theorized that this evil is vampires, but no such creature has actually been shown in any marketing materials, keeping the threat shrouded in mystery.
A new 2025 movie preview from USA Today includes a new image from Sinners, and several clues in the image reinforce the idea that Jordan will be facing off against vampires. The image features Jordan holding a sharpened wooden stick and a pistol while covered in blood, and wooden stakes are, according to folklore, one way of killing vampires. It's notable, too, that another character behind Jordan appears to have a wooden stake affixed to her weapon as well. Check out the new image below:
What The New Sinners Image Means For The Movie
Are There Vampires In The New Ryan Coogler Movie?
Generally, marketing materials will make clear when a vampire movie is a vampire movie, and the fact that the creatures of legend have not yet been confirmed to appear in Sinners could be significant. The new image certainly suggests that the threat Elijah and Elias are facing off against is vampires, and this is supported by several moments in the Sinners trailer, such as a voice-over mentioning "ghosts" and "magic," and a scene of Jordan looking terrified as his eyes move from the ground to the sky above.
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There are several possible reasons why vampires haven't been explicitly confirmed to appear. For one, the last few years have seen a number of vampire movies underperform in theaters, including The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), Renfield (2023), and Abigail (2024). Another possibility is that vampires don't actually feature in the movie at all. Right now, the general expectation seems to be that vampires will be the villains of the movie, but it could make for an exciting shock for audiences if the real threat ends up being something else entirely.
One theory posits that the real enemy in Sinners is the KKK, and this would track with some of the racial themes in Coogler's past work.
Our Take On The New Sinners Image
The Horror-Thriller Movie Has Revealed Just Enough
These days, movie trailers generally leave little to the imagination. Research has shown that viewers are more likely to go to a movie after watching a particularly revealing trailer because it takes away an element of risk. If an audience member knows what they're in for, they may be more likely to spend their money on a ticket. That's why it's curious – and exciting – that so much of Sinners remains shrouded in mystery.
For those already interested in seeing Sinners, the best course of action at this point might be to not watch any future trailers, as more is sure to be revealed as the March release date approaches. As it stands, vampires or no vampires, the movie is looking like a worthy follow-up for Coogler to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and another great role for Jordan after Creed III (2023).
Source: USA Today
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Two brothers return to their hometown in the Jim Crow-era South seeking a fresh start, only to find that an even greater evil, including the Ku Klux Klan, has taken root. Michael B. Jordan stars as twins in this vampire thriller directed by Ryan Coogler, blending supernatural horror with historical tension.
Release Date March 7, 2025
Director Ryan Coogler
Writers Ryan Coogler
English (US) ·