HBO has unveiled a riveting trailer for the upcoming limited series We Own This City, starring Jon Bernthal as a corrupt cop in Baltimore. The series is created by David Simon and George Pelecanos, who’ve previously collaborated on HBO hits The Wire, Treme, and The Deuce. Inspired by actual events, We Own This City centers on a group of police officers who are charged with solving the city’s gun and drug problems but in turn, start robbing and murdering the people they swore to protect. We Own This City premieres Monday, April 25 on HBO. You can check out the trailer below.
Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard, Joe Bell) directs the six-episode limited series, adapted from the 2021 non-fiction book We Own This City: A True Story Of Crime, Cops, And Corruption, by former Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin Fenton. The HBO logline for the show reads: “We Own This City chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work.”
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We Own This City features a packed star cast headlined by Jon Bernthal, who plays Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, the central figure in Baltimore PD’s Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF). Wunmi Mosaku (Loki) plays Nicole Steele, an attorney investigating policing practices in Baltimore before the GTTF scandal. The rest of the cast includes Jamie Hector, McKinley Belcher III, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Josh Charles, Dagmara Domińczyk, Rob Brown, Don Harvey, David Corenswet, Larry Mitchell, Ian Duff, and Delaney Williams.
As witnessed in the trailer, Bernthal immediately reveals his nature to a fellow cop, asking if he would steal drug money. As the clip goes further, we see the squad engaging in several shady activities. All this is happening while they are under federal investigation. Raw, grim, and brutal, We Own This City seems to be just as shocking as the real-life scandal that inspired it. It all began when additional powers were bestowed upon the BPD in the wake of the 2015 riots that erupted after the suspicious death of a black man, Freddie Gray, in police custody. What followed was a gross misuse of power by a group of crooked cops on both civilians and drug dealers alike.
Will these morally challenged cops ever get caught? People familiar with the case or the book may already know the answer. The rest will have to find out when We Own This City debuts on HBO on April 25. The show will be available to stream on HBO Max as well.
Jon Bernthal Could Be Making His MCU Debut as The Punisher
Netflix’s Defenders universe is officially no more as all six shows have left the streaming platform. Having tweaked its parental controls, Disney+ now hosts the Defenders shows, and rumors are circulating that the streamer is looking to integrate the characters into the MCU. Krysten Ritter was recently seen sporting her Jessica Jones hairstyle; Charlie Cox has already appeared in the MCU as Daredevil, and so has Vincent D’Onofrio, who reprised his menacing role as Kingpin in Hawkeye.
Jon Bernthal-starrer The Punisher was not a big hit with critics, but it has amassed a huge fan following. Bernthal himself has stated on multiple occasions that he’ll love to play the character again, and a solo Punisher series is also rumored to be in development. Judging by the show’s fan reception and because Marvel now owns the rights to the Punisher, it’s only a matter of time before Bernthal shows up in the MCU wearing the iconic skull vest.
