First Look At John Boyega In Steve McQueen’s Upcoming TV Anthology ‘Small Axe’

After publicly speaking ill of the whole Peak TV era, you didn’t really expect filmmaker Steve McQueen to work on a typical TV series, did you? As we learned with this year’s rather unusual Cannes Film Festival Official Selections announcement for 2020, McQueen’s TV anthology series, “Small Axe,” isn’t your typical series and is instead a group of five feature-length projects that paint a larger picture. And now, we have our first look (via Deadline) at one of the stars of the series, John Boyega, who is featured in the episode titled, “Red, White And Blue.”

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In the episode, Boyega stars as a Metropolitan police officer that joins the force with the hopes of changing the systemic racism found in the group. The character witnessed the injustices from the law enforcement unit first-hand after seeing his father being assaulted by two police officers. “Red, White, and Blue” is just one of the five features that comprise the “Small Axe” anthology, which aims to tell five separate stories of the West Indian community in London during the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

READ MORE: Steve McQueen’s ‘Small Axe’ TV Anthology Comprised Of 5 Feature-Length Entries, Including ‘Mangrove’ & ‘Lover’s Rock’

Obviously, this is one of the first major projects for Boyega after wrapping up work in the “Star Wars” universe back in December with ‘The Rise of Skywalker.’ Since then, the actor has become a bit of a hero in real life, as he very publicly spoke out during the recent Black Lives Matter protests that began after the brutal murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis months ago. Obviously, “Small Axe” was filmed prior to that event, but the release of “Red, White, and Blue” couldn’t come at a more appropriate time.

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Boyega is just one of the stars attached to McQueen’s new series. He’s also joined by Letitia Wright, who rose to prominence thanks to her roles in “Black Mirror” and, of course, “Black Panther.” Also in the cast of the various features are actors Steve Toussaint, Shaun Parkes, Malachi Kirby, Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, Micheal Ward, Shaniqua Okwok, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Tyrone Huntley, Nathan Vidal, and Jaden Oshenye.

It’s unclear when “Small Axe” will be distributed outside of the festival circuit, but Amazon Studios is behind the series. You can see the first-look photo of Boyega below.