The first images from Quentin Tarantino‘s slavery-themed Western Django Unchained have hit the web.

One image is of Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, a sadistic plantation owner who makes his slaves compete in gladiatorial combat for his amusement. The picture depicts Candie wielding a hammer, tipping off those who have read the script to the meaning of the scene. The other image is of Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx, playing Dr. King Schultz and Django, respectively, bounty hunters likely on their way to kill their next target.

Tarantino’s film has been described as a “Southern,” which is to say a Western set in the South. Certain to be Tarantino’s most controversial film, the script contains graphic violence, sexual assault, torture, and countless uses of a certain racial slur. The story sees Django, a freed slave, seeking to rescue his still enslaved wife (Kerry Washington) from Candie’s massive plantation, aptly called Candyland. The film also stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kurt Russell.

Django Unchained opens on Christmas Day.

Source: Entertainment Weekly