Fantasy Casting - Warcraft: Reign of Chaos

[Kyphael]

Suffice to say, the long-anticipated Warcraft movie flopped, financially and critically. If Legendary Pictures hired you to take the helm of a new Warcraft movie, what time period would you focus on, and who would you cast? Here's mine!

Here's mine.

WARCRAFT (MOVIE): REIGN OF CHAOS

Prince Arthas Menethil: Liam Hemsworth



The protagonist of the story, he's the young prince of Lordaeron who eventually falls from grace and becomes the villainous Lich King.

Uther the Lightbringer: Daniel Craig



Head Paladin of the Order of the Silver Hand in service to Lordaeron and Arthas' mentor.

Jaina Proudmoore: Indiana Evans



Arthas' love interest and one of the most capable mages of the Kirin Tor.

Illidan Stormrage: Idris Alba



The power-hungry night elf Demon Hunter who covets his brother's love.

Malfurion Stormrage: Chiwetel Ejiofor



Illidan's twin brother and the most powerful Druid in all of Azeroth.

Tyrande Windwhisper: Thandie Newton



Moon Priestess, love of Malfurion and leader of the Night Elves.

Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider: Jamie Bell



Crown Prince of Quel'telas, mage of the Kirin Tor and in love with Lady Jaina Proudmoore.

Sylvanas Windrunner: Teresa Palmer



Ardent defender of Silvermoon and fated Queen of the Forsaken.

King Terenas Menethil: Jeremy Irons



King of Lordaeron and father of Prince Arthas.

And...

Grom Hellscream: Hugh Jackman



As the voice and motion capture of disgraced Orc, Grommash Hellscream.

Also starring..

Thrall: Toby Kebell
Medivh: Lee Pace
Muradin Bronzebeard: Richard Armitage
Kel'thuzad: Jason Isaacs
Mal'Ganis: Benedict Cumberbatch as voice only

[Neenaw]

Do you see night elves at black or are your choices above merely a coincidence?

[Super Kami Dende]

Not gonna lie, Idris with the Ears/Hair and the Purple Skin Colour would be an awesome fucking Illidan.



Nikolaj would make a perfect Kael'thas though.

[Plehnard]

Do you see night elves at black or are your choices above merely a coincidence?

Typical token casting. He wanted to appear "progressive" but didn't want the backlash so he casts the black actors for Roles with races that need recolouring anyway.

[Soon-TM]

I'd definitely like a WC3:RoC film. But I think it's too wide of a scope, so I'd limit the script to the Human campaign. Arthas' fall is still one of my favourite moments in Warcraft

[Dakhath]

Stephen Lang would be a great Uther, but he might be too old at this point.

[Kyphael]

Typical token casting. He wanted to appear "progressive" but didn't want the backlash so he casts the black actors for Roles with races that need recolouring anyway.

Why can't black actors play elves?

I'd cast Idris Alba because of his voice, size, and acting chops to pull off Illidan. If anything only his feet would be CGI with some other enhancements but not straight up motion capture like orcs have to be. For his brother I wanted somebody with equal acting ability that came from a similar background, IE: not another white guy. Chiwetel Ejiofor is no large man but Malfurion is so much more beast than elf that he'd require a lot of CGI touch up and make-up that would bring him up to Alba's size. I wanted his voice to counter Alba's Illidan's and facial expression for his acting ability. Thandie Newton just looks like Tyrande to me, and in-game Tyrande is voiced with an African accent so... why wouldn't I cast an actor of African background?

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Stephen Lang would be a great Uther, but he might be too old at this point.

That would be a good choice too! He has that authoritative demeanor I'd expect out of Uther.

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Not gonna lie, Idris with the Ears/Hair and the Purple Skin Colour would be an awesome fucking Illidan.

Nikolaj would make a perfect Kael'thas though.

He does look the part, I just went with Jamie Bell because when I saw his facial structure/expression, it reminded me of Kael'thas right out of Warcraft III's hero portraits. Kael'thas always seemed like a character that on the outside seemed confident and resilient even in the face of adversity, but on the inside he's frail, always at the point of emotionally cracking and unsure of himself. He's pretty much like Arthas, despite being much older and supposedly wiser, but he never cracked, at least not in WC: III, but he constantly looks like he lives at the edge of just breaking down completely. Jamie Bell has that hard to read expression that looks like he's trying to be strong but is vulnerable.

[Super Kami Dende]

Why can't black actors play elves?

I'd cast Idris Alba because of his voice, size, and acting chops to pull off Illidan. If anything only his feet would be CGI with some other enhancements but not straight up motion capture like orcs have to be. For his brother I wanted somebody with equal acting ability that came from a similar background, IE: not another white guy. Chiwetel Ejiofor is no large man but Malfurion is so much more beast than elf that he'd require a lot of CGI touch up and make-up that would bring him up to Alba's size. I wanted his voice to counter Alba's Illidan's and facial expression for his acting ability. Thandie Newton just looks like Tyrande to me, and in-game Tyrande is voiced with an African accent so... why wouldn't I cast an actor of African background?

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That would be a good choice too! He has that authoritative demeanor I'd expect out of Uther.

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He does look the part, I just went with Jamie Bell because when I saw his facial structure/expression, it reminded me of Kael'thas right out of Warcraft III's hero portraits. Kael'thas always seemed like a character that on the outside seemed confident and resilient even in the face of adversity, but on the inside he's frail, always at the point of emotionally cracking and unsure of himself. He's pretty much like Arthas, despite being much older and supposedly wiser, but he never cracked, at least not in WC: III, but he constantly looks like he lives at the edge of just breaking down completely. Jamie Bell has that hard to read expression that looks like he's trying to be strong but is vulnerable.

Nikolaj as Jamie Lannistar is basically that. Confidence masking insecurity.

[Kyphael]

I'd definitely like a WC3:RoC film. But I think it's too wide of a scope, so I'd limit the script to the Human campaign. Arthas' fall is still one of my favourite moments in Warcraft

Only thing is, it would be hard to completely tell Arthas' fall without Illidan, he's so integral to the character, and if Illidan has to be in the film as something more than just an obstacle for Arthas, but another character audiences care about, his story would have to be told adjacent with Arthas', so you also need Malfurion, Tyrande, and Thrall and Grom as well for the Kalimdor side. It's like Illidan and Arthas' stories would run side by side, but on different continents, leading up to the film's conclusion where they meet for the second time, Arthas defeats him, ascends to The Frozen Throne and becomes Lich King.

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Nikolaj as Jamie Lannistar is basically that. Confidence masking insecurity.

He'd also be great in the role then, good choice! I'm just not familiar with his work.

[Lothaeryn]

Honestly, this whole thing would work better as a miniseries, not a cinema film. Reason. Being each campaign really needs time to be fleshed out properly and needs additional time for exposition. A 2-4 hour film cuts way too much to fit it into a time slot.

Something along the lines of each campaign being a season would work much better. Giving room for characters to develop for the audience.

[Syegfryed]

what kael is doing in reign of chains again

[CasualVader]

I rather see Blizzard focusing on making a serie based on Warcraft 1-3 instead of a movie.

The story is just too long and complicated to fill out in few movies.

[RobertMugabe]

Nah Sylvanas should be played by Macaulay Culkin on drugs

[Cosmic Janitor]

I'd CGI the shit out of it, screw actors.