Jason Momoa, Kiefer Sutherland Join Thriller Copperhead

Heads turned the moment Copperhead added four new names to its roster. Big ones. Jason Momoa and Kiefer Sutherland bookend the list, while Tenoch Huerta and Adria Arjona slot in between—alongside Miles Teller, already attached to the project. No character details have been released yet, but the chemistry implied by this casting is enough to raise expectations.

The film follows a grizzled detective who, after a drug deal explodes into violence, must pair with a young federal agent to unravel a conspiracy nested inside their own special unit. That premise promises tense, claustrophobic stakes: betrayal close to home, loyalties tested, and the slow burn of secrets that refuse to stay buried.

John Swab, fresh off festival acclaim, directs from a script by Chad Feehan and J. Todd Scott. Shooting is slated to kick off in September, and Black Bear will begin international sales at the Toronto Film Festival—timing that suggests the producers are positioning Copperhead as both a commercial thriller and a festival-friendly piece.

What does each casting choice signal? Momoa, coming off a turn as Lobo in Supergirl, brings action-star heft and magnetic presence. His upcoming slate—Street Fighter, Dune: Part Three, A Minecraft Movie: Squared and Fast Forever—shows he’s balancing blockbuster scale with varied genre work. Tenoch Huerta, who introduced Namor to the MCU in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is set to revisit the character in Avengers: Doomsday; his inclusion hints at a performance that can pivot between menace and complexity. Adria Arjona, fresh from Andor, has eyes on projects like Onslaught, The Thomas Crown Affair and James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow, marking her as an actor comfortably moving between prestige and spectacle. And Kiefer Sutherland—television royalty thanks to 24—continues to pick intriguing roles after Juror #2, with Father Joe and The Horseman on the horizon.

All told, this ensemble gives Copperhead the rare mix of box-office profile and dramatic chops that could make a straightforward crime story feel urgent and modern.

There’s no release date yet. But with a festival sales launch, a September shoot start and a cast that reads like a curated mixtape of contemporary talent, Copperhead already feels like one of the year’s watchlist-worthy crime projects. Who will betray whom? The answer will reveal itself in the film’s shadows—and until then, the speculation makes for a good kind of suspense.