There’s the Alliance, and then there’s the Horde. Two races that have populated Azeroth for generations who will soon be at loggerheads once Legendary unleashes Duncan Jones’ Warcraft: The Beginning into theaters.
Distilling such a complex and historic MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) into a two hour-plus feature film naturally raises nine kinds of world-building questions, but in an effort to familiarize audiences with the goings-on of Azeroth, a pair of Warcraft character videos have landed, introducing Durotan (Toby Kebbell) and Lothar (Travis Fimmel).
Each profile essentially spotlights the two main characters leading the charge from each respective camp – Durotan, proud leader of the Orc army and Fimmel’s Lothar (AKA the Lion of Azeroth), who is a key member of the human population housed up in Stormwind. Both snippets are certainly easy on the eyes, too, offering fresh looks at the bleeding-edge special effects bringing Jones’ vision to life.
Rubbing shoulders with Kebbell and Fimmel on the battlefield is Dominic Cooper as King Llane Wrynn, Ben Foster as Medivh, Ben Schnetzer as Khadgar, Ruth Negga as Lady Taria, Clancy Brown as Blackhand, Daniel Wu as Gul’Dan and Paula Patton’s Garona.
Duncan Jones will formally invite moviegoers to the fantastical plains of Azeroth when Warcraft: The Beginning makes its debut on May 25 overseas. It’ll then march across the pond in time for a North American release on June 10. But can Jones’ visually spectacular tentpole break the shackles/curse of video game adaptations? Time will tell.
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.