Shah Rukh Khan's latest poster for upcoming movie King has sparked discussion online, with fans and social media users sharing different opinions about the actor's new look.
SRK unveiled a new poster of King on Tuesday, giving fans a glimpse of his rugged appearance in the upcoming action film. The actor, 60, is seen sporting grey hair, a beard, a distressed leather jacket and an unbuttoned shirt.
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In the poster, Shah Rukh is holding a gun in one hand and a red rose between his teeth. He appears to be walking out of what looks like a burning aircraft. Sharing the poster on social media, the actor wrote, "Aaj phir yaad aaya... Qaatil nahi… Aashiq hoon…" The tagline is a reference to the opening lyrics of the title track from his 1990 film Baadshah.
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King X Reviews
Several users on X criticised the poster, with some questioning its visual treatment and comparing it with Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar: The Revenge. One user accused director Siddharth Anand of “copying” again and suggested that the new King poster had similarities with the Dhurandhar 2 poster.
copy Anand has started copying again… This time, he has even reached China. #King #ShahRukhKhan https://t.co/93pXkXqXfG
— Sandeep Pathak (@Im_SPathak) October 27, 2026
Another user criticised the visual effects, saying the poster looked like someone had repeatedly asked ChatGPT to "make it mass". The post also compared the film's visuals with Pathaan and predicted another CGI-heavy outing.
this poster looks like somebody typed 'make it mass bro' into chatgpt seventeen times King will be another CGI cringe fest like Pathaan https://t.co/hd7cddo2vg
— s. (@BeingSalmanicss) October 27, 2026
An SRK fan described the poster as “genuinely heartbreaking” and questioned the absence of the actor's familiar charm. The user called the image heavily edited and AI-like while also criticising the decision to show Shah Rukh with a rose in his mouth.
As a fan and admirer of Shah Rukh Khan, seeing the new King poster is genuinely heartbreaking. Where is that iconic SRK aura? Where is the class, the charisma, the larger-than-life presence we witnessed in the posters of Don and Don 2? The new poster looks ridiculously overedited, almost like a cheap AI-generated image. The face and body proportions look mismatched, the CGI feels excessive, and seriously, whose idea was it to put a rose in his mouth? It looks more cringe than stylish! Whoever conceptualised, designed, and approved this poster seriously needs to be held accountable. You have SHAH RUKH KHAN, one of the biggest superstars in the world, massive production resources, and an enormous budget, yet this is the creative output? What exactly are the makers spending their money on? What's even more disappointing is seeing the internet flooded with comments like "Chapri Era," "Terrible Poster," and "AI Disaster." As a fan, reading such reactions about someone you've admired for years genuinely hurts. Instead of building excitement for the film, this poster is inviting unnecessary trolling and negative publicity. It almost feels like someone entered a few prompts into an AI generator, added excessive Photoshop, and called it a day. I'm not saying that's how it was actually made, but that's how little creative effort the final result appears to reflect. Shah Rukh Khan deserves better. His legacy, screen presence, and iconic image deserve a creative team that understands his aura rather than burying it under artificial effects and questionable styling. I genuinely hope King delivers at the box office, but as a fan, I cannot blindly praise everything associated with SRK. Being a true fan doesn't mean defending bad creative decisions. Sometimes it means calling them out. And seriously, am I the only one who feels this poster is excessively edited and completely lacks the classic Shah Rukh Khan charm? @pooja_dadlani @KarunaBadwal please don't let the movie get negative impacts with such low effort posters and ask the editors and marketing team to make trend and not go with th trend flow. Don't you think that rose in mouth is destroying the AURA of King Khan. Disappointed I swear ????
— Rayyan (@cc_rayyan) October 27, 2026
Another fan admitted not liking the poster and said that after a three-year wait, everything associated with King should make the superstar stand out. Another user criticised the film's VFX and CGI, while one called the poster “cheap”.
As an SRK fan, I didn't like the poster of King. Given that it's been three years since his last film, everything coming out for King needs to make him stand out. Otherwise, what's the point of such a long wait?
— Sherlockz (@engineeroast) October 27, 2026
A separate X user also alleged that the poster had been copied from Dhurandhar 2 and criticised Shah Rukh's appearance.
???? The official #King poster has been copied from the #Dhurandhar2 poster....????♂️ But even after copying, SRK looks like a joker in this poster. Even his own fans didn't like it!! ???????? Dhurandhar 2 >>> Remake King https://t.co/z2zjJFYHHn
— Chris Evans (@CaptainChris00) October 27, 2026
About King
Directed by Siddharth Anand, King reunites Shah Rukh with the filmmaker after Pathaan. The film marks Shah Rukh's first on-screen collaboration with his daughter Suhana Khan, who made her acting debut with The Archies in 2023.
The cast also includes Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Raghav Juyal in pivotal roles. Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Marflix Pictures, King is scheduled to release in theatres on December 24, 2026.
Shah Rukh is returning to the big screen after his three theatrical releases in 2023 — Pathaan, Jawan and Dunki. He was last seen in a cameo in his son Aryan Khan's debut OTT series The Ba**ds of Bollywood*.
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