Samuel L. Jackson in RoboCop (2014)Image via Columbia Pictures
While he may lack the A-list recognition of some other actors of his same generation, Joel Kinnaman has become one of the most bankable action stars in the last 15 years, with solid performances in crime thrillers and sci-fi epics to bolster his filmography. Earlier this year, Kinnaman starred in one of the most underrated Netflix detective dramas, Detective Hole, which is based on the novel of the same name by Jo Nesbø. The show earned millions of views during its first few weeks on streaming, but it was never renewed for Season 2. Last year, Kinnaman starred in one of the most overlooked action thrillers of the year, Icefall, which was billed as a mix of John Wick and The Grey. The film never received a wide theatrical release, and it was recently released on Prime Video after originally debuting on VOD.
One of Joel Kinnaman’s most notorious misfires came back in 2014 when he agreed to star in the RoboCop reboot with Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton. Thanks to Peter Weller, RoboCop is one of the most beloved sci-fi properties in the world, but the 2014 reboot didn’t hit home with critics or fans, and it struggled at the box office, grossing only $242 million against a $100 million budget. This is enough to avoid being branded a total bomb, but not enough for the studio to green-light any future movies and start a franchise. All these years later, fans are revisiting RoboCop on Prime Video at such a high rate that the film has surged back into the global top 10 in a handful of countries around the world — opinions on the reboot have stayed mostly negative, though.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz
Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like?
Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
FIND YOUR HERO →
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher?
The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward.
BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes.
CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction.
DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission.
EI don’t lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I’m already moving.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis?
The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly.
BImprovisation — I’m at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one.
CConviction — I know what I’m fighting for, and that certainty doesn’t waver under fire.
DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury.
EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for?
Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it.
BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind.
CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire.
DThe truth — what actually happened, what’s actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not.
EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
How do you relate to the people around you?
Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated.
BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself.
CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it.
DWith professional care but clear limits — I’ll protect you, but I won’t pretend we’re family.
EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don’t trust easily, but when I do, it holds.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do?
How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
APrepare in silence. If they won’t listen, I’ll be ready when they finally have to.
BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself.
CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore.
DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet.
EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That’s the only argument that counts.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What has your heroism cost you personally?
Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
AMy innocence — I’ve seen what I’m capable of, and I can’t unsee it.
BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it’s a lonely one.
CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause.
DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what’s out there now, and I can’t pretend otherwise.
EAlmost everything — and I’m still not sure what I’m carrying it all for. But I keep going.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in?
Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why.
BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it.
CThe system is the problem. I’m not here to work within it — I’m here to dismantle it.
DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself.
EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What’s left is instinct, and mine are reliable.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going?
The answer is the most honest thing about you.
ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters.
BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they’re counting on me.
CThe belief that what we’re fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one.
DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don’t stop. That’s just who I am.
EI’m not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I’m still on it.
REVEAL MY HERO →
Your Hero Has Been Identified
Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
Why Did People Dislike the 2014 ‘RoboCop’ Movie?
Fans looked down upon the 2014 RoboCop movie even before it hit theaters, when news broke that the film was abandoning the classic R-rating and telling a PG-13 story. This was designed to make the film more accessible to a younger audience, but this did little more than turn off older fans who loved the original RoboCop films of the late 80s and early 90s. Prime Video is hard at work on a new RoboCop reboot series right now, with Dan Stevens officially set to take on the role of Alex Murphy like Weller and Kinnaman before him.
Check out RoboCop (2014) on Prime Video and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Joel Kinnaman’s future projects.
Release Date
February 12, 2014
Runtime
118 minutes
Director
José Padilha
