After years of blockbuster-scale filmmaking in the MonsterVerse, director Adam Wingard is returning to more contained genre territory with Onslaught, an action-heavy science-fiction thriller arriving in theaters on September 4, 2026.
The film puts Andor star Adria Arjona at the center of a violent fight for survival, while reuniting Wingard with Dan Stevens, who previously starred in the director’s 2014 cult thriller The Guest. A24 has confirmed the movie’s September 4 theatrical release.
For Stevens, Onslaught comes during an especially busy stretch of his career. He first became widely recognized for playing Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey in the early 2010s before taking on the lead role in Wingard’s The Guest in 2014. He later appeared as the Beast in Disney’s 2017 live-action Beauty and the Beast and most recently starred in the Ridley Scott-produced horror series The Terror: Devil in Silver.
He is also moving into some major genre roles. Stevens has been announced as the new RoboCop for Prime Video’s upcoming reboot series and will appear in the second season of Dexter: Resurrection as its new central villain, The Five Borough Killer. He takes over the feature villain role following Peter Dinklage’s appearance as Leon Prater in Season 1.
Dan Stevens Returns to the MonsterVerse
Stevens has another major franchise appearance waiting in 2027. After playing Trapper in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, he is set to reprise the role in Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, which is scheduled to reach theaters on March 26, 2027.
That movie is being directed by Grant Sputore rather than Wingard, giving the filmmaker an opportunity to step away from the MonsterVerse and return to the kind of genre filmmaking that helped establish his reputation.
Onslaught reunites Wingard with screenwriter Simon Barrett, his longtime collaborator and the writer of The Guest. The cast also includes Rebecca Hall, Drew Starkey and Alex Pereira.
What Is Onslaught About?
The premise centers on a rogue group of genetically engineered super soldiers who escape into the desert.
Arjona plays an Army sniper who is forced to draw on her combat skills when the soldiers become a deadly threat to her young daughter. The official synopsis describes the story as a battle in which the former soldier must unleash everything she has to keep her child safe.
The film also stars Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Drew Starkey and Alex Pereira in key roles. The wider ensemble includes Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson and Michael Biehn.
Stevens plays Hans Kammler, while Arjona takes on the role of Celeste. Other credited characters include Kovacks, Josiah, Baylor, The Butcher, Cyrus and Hanna Kammler.
Wingard developed the story himself before bringing Barrett on to shape it into a screenplay. Production took place between November 2024 and January 2025.
The finished film runs for 1 hour and 32 minutes and carries an R rating, with action, science fiction, thriller and horror among its listed genres.
A New Chapter for Adam Wingard
Onslaught marks an interesting change of scale for Wingard after his work on the MonsterVerse. His most recent film in that franchise was Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which brought Stevens into the series as Trapper.
Rather than immediately returning to giant monsters, Wingard has shifted his attention to a story built around a small group of characters, a desert setting and genetically engineered soldiers. That setup gives Onslaught a more intimate survival-thriller foundation while retaining the director’s interest in action and horror.
The film also carries an obvious connection to The Guest through its combination of military experimentation, former soldiers and Dan Stevens. Current coverage has noted that Onslaught takes place in the same town and universe as The Guest, although Stevens is playing a different character here.
Critics have given the movie a mixed but generally positive early reception. At the time of its release, Onslaught sits at 74% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews, according to the score reported ahead of its theatrical debut.
When Can You See Onslaught?
A24’s Onslaught opens in theaters across the United States on September 4, 2026.
With Adria Arjona taking the lead, Dan Stevens returning to the kind of intense genre material associated with The Guest, and Adam Wingard stepping away from the MonsterVerse, the film brings together several familiar genre names for a story about a mother, her daughter and a group of genetically engineered soldiers gone loose.
For Wingard, it also represents a return to the science-fiction and horror territory that has been central to much of his career, while giving audiences another chance to see Stevens in a very different role before his return as Trapper in Godzilla x Kong: Supernova next year.