Editor's Note: The following contains The Creator spoilers.

With The Creator, Gareth Edwards attempts to do something very few have done in recent history - tell an original science fiction story on the biggest scale possible, with characters that are completely his own creation. That notion is a little baffling to think about when you look back and realize some of the most popular sci-fi characters in cinema started out as original characters. Luke Skywalker, Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, and Thomas Anderson are all characters we know by name and are valuable intellectual properties for their respective studios and franchises, but they all originated from the minds of their creators. That is why films like The Creator are essential, as they have a chance to create new icons of pop culture instead of just regurgitating the same characters over and over again for nostalgia.

The Creator welcomes us to a new world set in the year 2070, yet a world that appears alarmingly familiar to us. It is a world divided by the vast and scary potential artificial intelligence holds for the future, with wars breaking out over the control of this new technology. To tell such an ambitious story on a huge canvas with real-world stakes and themes, you need someone like Edwards, who has become one of the best blockbuster filmmakers working today, and the VFX artist turned director apparently delivered this huge movie for around $80 million. To achieve all of that, Edwards has assembled a team of incredible actors, each playing new and intriguing characters that have their own emotional arcs. Check out our guide to find out about every character and the actors who play them in The Creator.

John David Washington as Joshua

John David Washington plays a soldier named Joshua, who is sent on a mission to destroy a weapon that could aid the machines to win the war. Joshua lost both his parents in a nuclear blast, allegedly arranged by the robots against humankind, and narrowly escaped death himself. The physical injuries caused by the blast were repaired using cybernetic implants, turning him into a deadly soldier, but Joshua relives that memory every day. On a mission as an undercover agent in a terrorist cell of humans working with AI, Joshua’s loyalties become unstable as he learns the truth behind the war and starts questioning his own humanity. His encounter with the robot child Alphie, played by Madeleine Yuna Voyles, and the parental relationship he forms with her create the central dynamic and emotional core of this movie.

This isn't the first time the protégé of Denzel Washington is leading a sci-fi film however, as the actor previously played the Protagonist in Christopher Nolan's action sci-fi blockbuster Tenet. Washington began his acting career on the HBO series Ballers and has starred in films like Malcolm & Marie, Amsterdam, and Spike Lee's Oscar-winning crime drama BlacKkKlansman in his short but promising career so far.

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Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie

Child performances in movies are always tricky, especially when as much is demanded of them as it is with Madeleine Yuva Voyles in The Creator. The 9-year-old actress plays Alphie, a child-like robot that is the next evolution for artificial intelligence and a weapon for the robots in their war against humans. Alphie is the center of the whole plot as well as the heart of the film, and her relationship with John David Washington's Joshua and their eventual arcs form the film's crux.

Despite this being her debut film, the actress carries the entire emotional weight of the film and delivers not just one of the best child performances, but one of the best performances of the year in general.

Gemma Chan as Maya

Gemma Chan plays Maya, Joshua's wife in the movie. She is one of the leaders of the terrorist cell of humans working with the robots. Her loyalties lie unreservedly with the machines as she was rescued and raised by them since childhood. Unaware of him being an undercover agent, Maya’s loyalties become a source of light for Joshua and go on to affect his character arc. Appearing in flashbacks throughout the film, Chan’s character becomes a motivator for Joshua to push through the events of the movie.

The British actor had her breakout role as Astrid in the surprise hit Crazy Rich Asians and has starred in several big-budget films including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Raya and The Last Dragon. She also played a minor role in the MCU as Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel before going on to lead Chloé Zhao's Eternals as Sersi.

Ken Watanabe as Harun

Playing one of the robot characters who take on the human form, Ken Watanabe joins The Creator as Harun and brings necessary gravitas to the film, as he often does. This is also not the first time Watanabe has played a machine, as he has lent his voice to the Decepticon-turned-Autobot Drift in Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight in the past.

Watanabe has had a long career in films, starting way back in the 1980s, and he has been busy throughout. One of his earliest prominent English-language roles came as Katsumoto in The Last Samurai, and since then he's been a mainstay of Hollywood productions. Having worked with high-profile directors like Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and even Gareth Edwards in 2014's Godzilla, the experience Watanabe brings to any film is priceless.

Allison Janney as Howell

Allison Janney plays another human character in The Creator, Howell. Howell is a hardened commanding officer, who recruits Joshua to infiltrate an AI base in order to find and destroy the weapon. Her intense hatred towards the machines is well explored in the film and Janney stuns as Howell, in her layered approach towards the character, especially in the first two acts of the film, as she plays someone truly despicable perfectly at every note.

The Oscar-winning actress is a smart addition to the cast of The Creator as she takes on the role of a villain that is very easy to hate, yet she manages to make it believable. Janney is a prolific Broadway actress and has played several characters in movies over the years but is perhaps best known to modern viewers for her role opposite Margot Robbie in I, Tonya, and in The West Wing as C.J. Cregg.

Sturgill Simpson as Drew

Grammy-winning American country musician Sturgill Simpson plays Drew in The Creator, a fellow soldier and old pal of Joshua whom he catches up with in his journey of self-awakening. The singer-songwriter has made a transition into acting swiftly after appearing in films like The Dead Don't Die and Queen & Slim, and also plays the role of bootlegger Henry Grammer in Martin Scorsese's upcoming true-crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon.

Ralph Ineson as General Andrews

English actor Ralph Ineson plays General Anderson, the military leader who leads the campaign for humans against the AI and sets Joshua off on his mission. Ineson is known for his deep and distinctive voice and has appeared in various movies and TV shows, and narrated several documentaries. The actor first received recognition for his recurring role in the BBC's version of The Office and has since played Dagmer Cleftjaw in Game of Thrones, Amycus Carrow in the final three Harry Potter films, and will be seen next in Robert Eggers' Nosferatu.

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Who Else Is in 'The Creator'?

The Creator includes several small and supporting characters in both the human and robot camps. Vietnamese actress and singer Veronica Ngô, known for her performance in The Old Guard and Da 5 Bloods, plays Kami, a robot that looks out for Alfie. Marc Menchaca, best known as Russ Langmore from Ozark, plays a character named McBride in the film. The Creator also features performances from Amar Chadha-Patel (Willow), Robbie Tann (Mare of Easttown), Michael Esper (Frances Ha), Ian Verdun (Lucifer), and Rad Pereira (Bad Things).