Watch Michael K. Williams Say ‘What Now, Pioneer?’ in New ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Trailer

A great many things happen in the new trailer for Justin Kurzel’s upcoming adaptation of the popular video game Assassin’s Creed. Great thespians Jeremy Irons and Charlotte Rampling have a staring contest while saying the words “the Apple of Eden” with a straight face. A giant robotic arm grabs Michael Fassbender and throws him into the past. There’s a burning at the stake and smoke bombs and a double-neck-stabbing and so much more, and yet this all pales in comparison to the magnificent sight of Michael Kenneth Williams saying “What now, pioneer?” to our hero. It’s like seeing the aurora borealis, or Niagara Falls, or the miracle of a new life beginning. It’s majestic, elemental even. Clearly, other things will happen in this movie, but in a way, is Assassin’s Creed not a documentary about the former Omar Little saying “What now, pioneer?”

Mostly, though, it’s an action-fantasy tentpole with a stacked international cast. Fassbender stars as Callum Lynch, the last living descendant of a secret order of assassins active during the Spanish Inquisition. Marion Cotillard is Sophia, the head scientist on an experimental project that could unlock Callum’s “genetic memories” to send him back to the age of his ancestors. Rampling and Irons appear to be portraying some villainous types, and Brendan Gleeson shows up to warn Fassbender not to trust them. Ultimately, only Callum can save the day by retrieving a lost artifact of immense power that is actually called the Apple of Eden – no, seriously, that is what it’s called – and defeating the nefarious Templar organization.

Assassin’s Creed will drop silently from above into unsuspecting theaters on December 21.