Dev Patel and Joel Edgerton on The Green Knight and the "Summer Of Dev"

Summer 2021 might not be turning out to be the vaccinated bacchanalia we all hoped it would be, but at least we still have The Green Knight. A long-anticipated A24/David Lowery take on the legend of Sir Gawain, the film hits theaters July 30, with reviewers like our own A.A. Dowd calling it “a spectacular mood piece.”

Perhaps most exciting for a lot of fans is the prospect of spending a little on-screen time with Sir Gawain himself, Dev Patel. It’s something A24 has played into, releasing Teen Beat style “hot knight” posters of the Arthurian icon, complete with brooding poses and sketchy signature. Cult cinema t-shirt site Super Yaki has even dubbed the summer of 2021 alternately the “Summer Of Dev” and “Dev Patel Summer,” producing a Green Knight themed shirt to that effect.

But how will the actual Dev Patel be spending his “Dev Patel Summer”? As we found out in the video interview below, he’s not sailing down to San Tropez and knocking back some spicy margaritas. Rather, he’s “celebrating the summer by being in rainy Adelaide” and “editing a film in a garage.” Though he seems happy to know that people are living it up in his honor, he still hasn’t seen his own version of that shirt, so hook him up, Super Yaki.

As far as how Sir Gawain spends his, er, cold Gawain winter questing for honor in The Green Knight, Patel tells us in the video that the movie is “about a young man’s journey to integrity,” and about “dealing with issues of legacy and ambition, but at what cost?” Patel says Gawain’s question is also not unlike life as an actor “in the industry, in terms of what you do, what you’re doing it for, and the sacrifices you must make,” as well as “what does it mean at the end of the day.”

There’s more from Patel in the clip above, as well as a little note from Joel Edgerton about some of The Green Knight’s more trippy elements and plays on reality.

The Green Knight opens in theaters July 30.