As far as most audiences were concerned, Assassin’s Creed didn’t exactly build a strong case for continuing to make movies based on video games (I’m in the minority on that one), a pursuit that has proven consistently disappointing over the last few decades despite occasional box-office success. But maybe things will finally change with the release of Tomb Raider, in which Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander takes on the iconic role of video game hero Lara Croft. She certainly looks the part in the first photos from the film, which hits theaters next year.

Vanity Fair premiered the first images from the new film, directed by Roar Uthaug (The Wave) and starring Vikander as the protagonist who made her debut in the original Tomb Raider video game back in 1996. Over 20 years, a dozen video games, and two film adaptations later, Lara Croft is back:

Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
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Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
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For her latest cinematic outing, the beloved hero’s back story received a bit of a makeover: This Lara Croft is a 21-year-old college student who works as a bike messenger in London, and is completely uninterested in pursuing the family business following the disappearance of her father seven years prior. But something inevitably changes her mind and Lara decides to find out what happened to her dad, an investigation that takes her on a journey to the place where he was last seen — a mysterious tomb, of course:

Suddenly, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Lara, who—against the odds and armed with only her sharp mind, blind faith and inherently stubborn spirit—must learn to push herself beyond her limits as she journeys into the unknown. If she survives this perilous adventure, it could be the making of her, earning her the name tomb raider

In addition to the new back story, what sets this Lara Croft apart from previous iterations is that she doesn’t look like a sexy video game character: Her costume is practical and her style is more utilitarian. Vikander describes her Lara as “tough, smart, vulnerable, plus she’s kick ass,” and adds, “I think people can identify with her for lots of different reasons, but for me I very much see her as a model for many young women.”

Dominic West (The Wire) plays Lara Croft’s dad, and Walton Goggins plays the villain in the new Tomb Raider movie, which hits theaters on March 16, 2018.

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