Chadwick Boseman fights for justice in Marshall trailer

All heroes have origin stories, and Chadwick Boseman is tackling Thurgood Marshall’s.

The 42 and Black Panther star portrays the man who would become the first African-American to sit on the Supreme Court in the upcoming drama Marshall, and the first trailer offers an early glimpse of his tireless pursuit of justice.

Directed by Reginald Hudlin (Serving Sara, Boomerang), the film takes place long before Marshall served on the nation’s highest court or won the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Instead, it centers on his 1941 defense of Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown), a black chauffeur accused by his white employer, Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson), of sexual assault and attempted murder.

Marshall was partnered with an untested Jewish attorney named Sam Friedman (Josh Gad) on the case, and they had their work cut out for them both in and outside the courtroom. But as Marshall says in the trailer, “If you want freedom, you’re going to have to fight for it.”

Marshall hits theaters Oct. 13. Watch the trailer above.