Sylvester Stallone has made a career out of playing strong but vulnerable men. Recently, photos of the actor on set of his new movie Samaritan were leaked, where he seems to be continuing the trend. Now, we have more images as shooting continues this week, which show Stallone's retired and in-hiding superhero down for the count in the middle of a city street.

Samaritan tells the story of a famous crime fighting vigilante, who for some mysterious reason disappeared from the public eye a couple of decades ago in the aftermath of an apocalyptic battle. A young boy, played by Javon Walton, gets wind of the news that the hero may still be alive and sets off on a quest to bring him back.

In the photos we see, the young boy appears to have found his hero, played by Sylvester Stallone. But he is not in any shape to be a Superhero. Stallone's character is clearly a shell of his former self, with a shaggy beard and mustache, baggy old clothes and a nasty wound across his face, suggesting the character was recently in a scuffle that did not end well for him.

We can reasonably assume that this meeting is the starting point for the partnership between the young boy and the old and jaded hero, with the child helping Stallone's character make a comeback to his superhero persona. It is the kind of story of coming back from a painful past and finding redemption with the help of a member of the younger generation that Stallone has already explored to great effect in the Rocky series of films, and their spinoff Creed movies.

This is far from the only time Stallone has had a brush with the superhero genre. While modern comic book movie fans may remember him for his brief appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Stallone has also essayed the role of the anti-hero Judge Dredd earlier in his career. And even before that, Stallone's name was in the running to play the role of Superman, a part that eventually went to Christopher Reeves.

With Samaritan, Stallone has mentioned his desire to tell a story about the responsibility of the older generation to the younger one, and the journey back to hope after a lifetime of enduring life's barbs.

Another interesting point about the clothes worn by Stallone in the picture is that his wardrobe closely resembles the look of Mickey, Rocky's trainer from the first few films. It may be a conscious choice on Stallone's part to mirror Mickey's journey with his role in his new film.

At the age of 73, Stallone is no longer in the shape needed to play the unstoppable killing machine roles that gained him legendary status among action movie fans. But he has managed to switch up from those kinds of roles to more dramatic outings that display his acting chops.

With Samaritan, Stallone seems to be aiming to fulfill both quotas by playing a down-on-his-luck but still very powerful older superhero. With Overlord director Julius Avery directing the feature, we can't wait to see Stallone serving up some superhero action on the big screen once again. The original Samaritan set photos were snapped by TMZ.