Oh! Legends are made in the trailer for Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark

David Chase’s return to The Sopranos hits theaters and HBO Max this fall

By Matt Schimkowitz | June 29, 2021 | 4:05pm

Film News The Many Saints of Newark

Oh! Legends are made in the trailer for Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark

Michael Gandolfini as Tony Soprano Screenshot: HBO

Welcome back to New Jersey. The sights, the smells, and the grime of the Garden State, first made cool in Bruce Springsteen songs and later on HBO’s groundbreaking series The Sopranos, are back in the trailer for The Many Saints Of Newark, a “Sopranos Story” the trailer adds in a Star Wars-esque fashion. Stepping into his late father’s signature role, Michael Gandolfini plays young Tony Soprano as he exits the back room of Satriale’s Pork Store for the streets of Newark.

The trailer reads like “Tony Soprano: Origins,” which tracks with the “A Sopranos Story” subtitle. The Many Saints Of Newark is very much not the series; many of the things people love about The Sopranos are missing. Sure, there’s gangland violence, New Jersey street corners, and Tony asking, “What’d you say to me?” But the tracksuits, the hair, and the gabagool from Sopranos memes are decidedly absent. Instead, director Alan Taylor, a television vet known for classic episodes of the Sopranos, Mad Men, and Game Of Thrones, treats fans to the better time that Tony was always pining for—the 1960s. It might not be Gary Cooper, but there is Jon Bernthal, Leslie Odom Jr, and Ray Liotta. Additionally, some good names take on some big roles, including Vera Farmiga as Livia Soprano, Cory Stoll as Uncle Junior, First Cow’s John Magaro as Silvio, and Made For Love’s Billy Magnussen as Paulie.

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As promised, the trailer focuses on Tony’s early days as a failing student, learning the ropes from Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), one of Tony’s father’s henchmen. But at long last, here’s the synopsis:

Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark’s history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters begin to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family’s hold over the increasingly race-torn city. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, who struggles to manage both his professional and personal responsibilities—and whose influence over his impressionable nephew will help make the teenager into the all-powerful mob boss we’ll later come to know: Tony Soprano.

The Many Saints Of Newark whacks its way into theaters and onto HBO Max (where it will stream for 31 days) October 1, 2021.