This morning on Good Morning America they gave a little preview of the upcoming new trailer for the Lone Ranger featuring some new footage from the film. It also reveals that Tonto (Johnny Depp) is teaming up with The Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer) to seek justice. Justice for what, has yet to be seen, but I found two separate origin stories of the character though that give a little insight. The character's background might be a combination of these two descriptions along with some added material. Maybe he's seeking justice because the white man stole his land?
The first tells the story of how the masked man and Tonto first met. "According to that tale, Tonto had been caught in the explosion when two men blew up a gold mine they were working. One of the men wanted to kill the wounded Tonto, but the Lone Ranger arrived on the scene and made him administer first aid. The miner subsequently decided to keep Tonto around, intending to make him the fall guy when he would later murder his partner. The Lone Ranger foiled both the attempted murder and the framing. No reason was given in the episode as to why Tonto chose to travel with the Lone Ranger, rather than continue about his business."
In the other version Tonto rescues a man named Reid, "the sole surviving Texas Ranger of a party who was tricked into an ambush by the outlaw Butch Cavendish (although later reference works referred to the future Lone Ranger as "John" Reid, no first name was ever given to the Lone Ranger in either the radio or TV series). Tonto recognizes the ranger as someone who had saved him when they were both boys. He refers to him by the title "ke-mo sah-bee", explaining that the phrase means "faithful scout" in the language of his tribe. Tonto buries the dead rangers, and The Lone Ranger instructs him to make a sixth empty grave to leave the impression he, too, is dead."
Synopsis:
The Lone Ranger, is a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.
The movie also stars Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson and Helena Bonham Carter. It's set to hit theatres on July 3, 2013.