Robin Hood (2025) – A Review

On November 2, 2025, MGM+ released the latest in a very long and prodigious line of adaptations of the Robin Hood story. Appropriately – if unoriginally – named Robin Hood, it’s a ten part series that tackles the Robin Hood mythos with a relatively unknown (to me) cast in the lead roles, with the exception of the glorious Sean Bean playing the Sheriff of Nottingham.

I’m always game for a good historical, swashbuckling series, and Robin Hood, along with King Arthur, always makes for a good subject when it comes to reimaginings. I’ve watched all episodes released as of this posting (6 of the 10), and I am enjoying it immensely. It’s not perfect, but it is fun.

On the spectrum of gritty realism (think 2010’s Robin Hood film with Russell Crowe as the titular character) to pure farce (Mel Brook’s 1993 Robin Hood: Men in Tights with the wonderful Cary Elwes as the green archer), Robin Hood ‘25 falls closer to realism. In fact, the producers tout that as their vision, a more historically accurate version of the myth. They throw in a Norman versus Saxon angle to increase the tension, as well as a Christian vs. pagan bit that actually makes the whole thing less accurate since the timing of that conflict doesn’t line up as far as where England was religiously at the time the story is set.

In this version, Robert of Loxley is the son of a Saxon lord who was unjustly stripped of his lands and assigned the undesirable job of a forester by the Sheriff of Nottingham, a Norman and the cousin of King Henry II. While his father teaches him the fine art of archery, his mother insists that Rob learn to read and write and to speak French, the “new” official language of the land. Marian is the girl-next-door, the daughter of the Norman nobleman who took over Rob’s ancestral home. The focus on Rob being Saxon with Marian being a hated Norman creates a bit of the Capulet/Montague starcrossed lovers obstacle.

Newcomer Jack Patten plays Robin Hood as more of a hapless boy who falls into his leadership role by a series of unfortunate events and poor decisions rather than because of any specific intention. He often wears an expression of stunned disbelief, as if he doesn’t quite know how he got there. His leadership is reluctant and tentative, and he’s a somewhat subdued hero, although watching him confidently employ his bow is absolutely thrilling. This series is very much an origin story, and we see what cruelties Rob endures in his young life to fuel the raging desire for vengeance that initially drives him, as well as how his motley band of outlaws congeals bit by bit.

Marian, played by Lauren McQueen, is much more of a naive ingenue than the Marians of other adaptations. The daughter of the abusive and cruel Earl of Huntingdon, she’s sent off to serve Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and becomes embroiled in palace intrigue. Like Robin, she often looks baffled at how she ended up where she is, with seemingly little agency in the beginning.

The romance between Robin and Marian is a key feature of the series, but it’s woefully underdeveloped. They meet briefly as children, then again as young adults. The attraction is palpable and it only takes a long afternoon and evening spent at a pagan wedding for the two to fall hopelessly in love. Not that their journey is easy, by any means, but I need a bit more build up and yearning in my epic love stories, so I was a bit disappointed by how fast theirs progressed. That said, the chemistry between Patten and McQueen is there and you do root for them as a couple to find their way to be together.

As the Sheriff of Nottingham, Sean Bean is Sean Bean, something that you can never forget no matter what character he plays. He moves away from the brilliant Alan Rickman’s evil-because-he’s-evil, mustache twirling take on Nottingham (from the 1991 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves film) to something with a bit more nuance and motivation. He doesn’t start off as a repugnant monster but rather is driven there out of a sense of entitlement (being both a Norman and the cousin of King Henry II) and because he’s easily manipulated by other more nefarious actors. Most telling is how ineffective he is when he tries to control the trouble-making daughter he openly adores.

Two new characters are introduced and given plenty of screen time. The Sheriff’s daughter Priscilla (played by Lydia Peckham) is hard to read. She begins as ‘bad’ (we know this because her introduction is a particularly rough schtupping up against a castle wall) and is clearly manipulative, but she’s also a woman in a time when women didn’t have any choices. The other significant addition is the Queen of England herself, who for the first time to my knowledge involves herself directly in the goings-on up in Sherwood Forest. Played by well-established actor Connie Nielsen, Eleanor of Aquitaine is a woman with an agenda who is willing to use anyone necessary to get what she wants. These characters are presented as morally gray, but my tendency is to distrust and to dislike them both.

While adding more prominent female characters to a predominately male story is refreshing, the problem is that there is only so much story time to go around. Every second we spend watching Eleanor plot and scheme or Priscilla ply her feminine charms to get what she wants is less time we spend on the individuals who make up the bad of Merry Men. I found Friar Tuck (Angus Castle-Doughty) to be especially intriguing. And they are setting up a lopsided love triangle between Robin, Marian, and  girl-in-disguise Rosemary “Ralph” Miller (Erica Ford), a gender-swapped version of Much, the Miller’s son. A stand out character is Richard Lintern’s Bishop of Hereford, who is actually more nefarious and initially causes more harm than the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The production values are good, with period-appropriate settings and wardrobes. Castles are lit by candles, with all the warm glow that implies. Sherwood Forest is treated as something almost sentient, mystical with the ability to protect those she deems worthy. Although, several times I found myself frustrated when Rob was being pursued by soldiers in a tense moment, only to find in the next that he’s safe without knowing how, exactly, he accomplished his escape.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for a decent historical action/romance show to pass the dark, winter hours while cozied up in front of the fireplace, Robin Hood ‘25 is entertaining (although nowhere near as good as The Artful Dodger). I’m enjoying it, anyway.

One caveat: Since I haven’t seen all ten episodes, I have no idea if this series will end on a cliffhanger. This is the problem with original streaming programs. There is no guarantee that there will be other seasons, and you may be left hanging if you become invested. In my personal experience, MGM+ does not have a good record with follow through, cancelling The Winter King (a very gritty, realistic Arthurian retelling) after only one season and without enough closure to be satisfying as a one-off. So while I do recommend Robin Hood ‘25, note that there is some risk involved.