Sneak Peek: The Lone Ranger and Tonto ride again

• Johnny Depp is the trusty sidekick Tonto
• Armie Hammer portrays the Lone Ranger
• Depp, Hammer enrolled in Old West boot camp before filming

LAMY, N.M. -- Forget about his secondary roles in the novels, the radio program and the TV series. In the upcoming film The Lone Ranger, Tonto walks side-by-side with the famous masked lawman.

"This is all about two guys who are on the same path, but who have come from two very different worlds," says Armie Hammer, who plays the title character in the action-adventure flick due out July 3, 2013.

Putting Tonto on equal footing is helped by the fact that he is played by Johnny Depp, who reunites with his Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer for the film, which just wrapped its lengthy shoot.

"The challenge was to turn the story on its head and reinvent it," says Verbinski, pointing out that his story is even narrated by Tonto. "Everyone has heard about the Lone Ranger, but not from the only other who was there -- Tonto."

Depp's Comanche shaman character is a daunting vision complete with eerie full torso makeup and a stuffed crow headpiece.

"This is not the look you want to wake up to in the middle of the night and see hovering above you," admits Depp, who helped create the appearance.

He and Hammer both enrolled in Old West boot camp before filming -- Hammer learned to dismount at full gallop and Depp perfected bareback riding. "Johnny really embraced the Comanche culture, says Verbinski.

There were almost nasty consequences as Depp had one spill where his horse miraculously avoided hitting his head with its hooves.

"There was potential for real badness," says Depp. "But we got through it."

The tale re-frames the hero's journey from law-abiding John Reid to the man who is forced to don the Lone Ranger mask and work outside the law. It includes the silver bullets and, naturally, the famous "Hi-Yo Silver" cry.

"Right before the horse threw its legs up in that scene, the thought went through my head, 'I'm really about to yell this right now,' " says Hammer, who will unveil the film's first trailer on Tuesday's Tonight Show with Jay Leno. "As the horse landed, the whole crew roared. Johnny told me, 'That was blankety-blank awesome.' "