One of 2016's most anticipated films is Warcraft, though there's still so little we know about it. The complex gaming saga is being distilled into a big screen fantasy world by director Duncan Jones, but Legendary Pictures has been reluctant to deal out any Warcraft secrets. Cast member Ben Foster, however, has opened up a bit and revealed some details previously unknown.
Foster, as it turns out, has some wizardly skills in the massive fantasy epic, telling IGN about the nature of his character.
"The character in Warcraft that I play is named Medivh. He's a mage, which is essentially a sorcerer. He came up in a time protecting an area, and the way he protected this area was through magic. As peace returned to this land he took a break. He hung up his staff, so to speak, or let his guns get dusty. We meet him as his friends are returning asking for his help in a battle."
Medivh is actually a well-known character to many fans of the game, a wizard corrupted at birth who eventually led demons to seize the land before dying at the hands of good friend Lothar (who may or may not be of the Hill People). He rises from the dead within the game narrative to become a mysterious prophet during the Third War. But don't call him Gandalf. He's not Gandalf at all. He's nothing like Gandalf.
Foster's always been one of the standout actors of his generation. It's rather unfortunate that he has the stench of X-Men: The Last Stand on him because he's got a spectacular body of work. Seemingly shunning leading man stardom, Foster has contributed to moody dramas like The Messenger and Lone Survivor, and will next be seen bringing gravitas to an untitled Lance Armstrong biopic. And if you've seen Alpha Dog, you likely can't forget his work there.
Foster's seriousness makes one wonder how he ended up in a video game adaptation, though to hear him talk about it, he's pretty amped to do Warcraft.
"What's exciting about Duncan Jones' take on this video game is that it shows both sides of the war. It shows both sides of a conflict, which is exciting to me. It's not just a video game turned into a movie. It's asking, hopefully, an important question of, where do we limit our compassion for what we consider to be the bad guys... The way that they're pushing motion-capture -- I just saw some of the test footage -- it's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's performance-capture. It pushes it to the next level. It's going to be one helluva 3D event."
Warcraft also stars Colin Farrell, Paula Patton, Travis Fimmel, Toby Kebbell, Dominic Cooper, Rob Kazinsky, Daniel Wu and Clancy Brown, and it's scheduled for release March 11th, 2016.
