Cillian Murphy goes nuclear in Oppenheimer trailer

Can Cillian Murphy stop World War II without blowing up the planet? That is the question raised by the new trailer for the based-on-real-events Oppenheimer (out July 21), which you can watch above.

Directed by The Dark Knight and Inception filmmaker Christopher Nolan, the film stars Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist and so-called "Father of the atomic bomb." Set during World War II, Oppenheimer details the scientist's attempt to create the world's first nuclear weapon.

The movie reunites longtime collaborators Nolan and Murphy who previously worked together on all three of Nolan's Batman movies as well as 2010's Inception and 2017's Dunkirk. Murphy is joined onscreen by Emily Blunt as his character's wife, biologist and botanist Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer; Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves Jr., director of the Manhattan Project; and Robert Downey Jr. who plays Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The film's starry cast also includes Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, David Krumholtz, Alden Ehrenreich, and Matthew Modine.

Universal Pictures Cillian Murphy in 'Oppenheimer'

Oppenheimer is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer sneak peek explodes into theaters with Avatar: The Way of Water

• Cillian Murphy is the most important man who ever lived in teaser for Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

• Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy reuniting with Christopher Nolan to play Oppenheimer