First image of Sharlto Copley in Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium

There are many fans of DISTRICT 9 out there who are clamoring for Neill Blomkamp‘s follow up film ELYSIUM. While I am hoping the movie is as original and well made as DISTRICT 9, I have no doubts it is going to be a completely distinct story and not connected to that film aside from the political messages regarding government control of minority citizens.

Empire magazine has posted a new image from ELYSIUM featuring Sharlto Copley‘s character, Kruger, who is the complete opposite of DISTRICT 9’s Wikus.

Copley’s Kruger is described as an attack dog for Jodie Foster‘s character. From the looks of this image, he is not exactly a friendly face.

Copley corrected a misquote regarding him comparing Kruger with Heath Ledger‘s Joker from THE DARK KNIGHT: “The Joker was a mistaken reference,” he says. “I was really just saying that that was the last time I saw a villain that inspired me: somebody that set the bar. There’s no connection or likeness to The Joker in terms of the character. What I did with him — which I try to do with all my original characters — was draw from real life. I combined references from a very infamous South African military battalion called 32 Battalion, that fought in the Border Wars in South Africa, and a stereotype of character that you get in the south of Johannesburg, where the guys are a little bit more comfortable with violence!”

ELYSIUM is set in the year 2159, and pits the oppressed people of the ruined planet Earth against the privileged elite aboard the Elysium space station. Matt Damon is ex-convict man-on-a-mission Max, fighting with the Terrans for equality, and Jodie Foster is the dastardly government official intent on enforcing anti-immigration laws and keeping Elysium for the Elysians.

I am looking forward to the movie and hope Blomkamp can continue to balance an intelligent and political story with gritty and realistic violence in a science fiction setting. With a cast this great, I am sure he will be able to. Aside from stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Copley, ELYSIUM also features William Fitchtner, Alice Braga, Michael Shanks, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura and Faran Tahir.

ELYSIUM opens in theaters on August 9, 2013.