Ben Foster drops some info on Duncan Jones’ Warcraft

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The last bit of WARCRAFT news came in the form of the release date being pushed back from December 2015 to March 2016. That’s an extensive post-production schedule, but whatever time Duncan Jones needs, I say give it to him. The man proved his writing/directing jobs with two of the best Science Fiction films of the last decade, with MOON and (to a lesser extent) SOURCE CODE. While WARCRAFT doesn’t have the star power of say, oh I dunno, STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, that doesn’t mean it’s lacking the talent. Ben Foster has proved himself to dissolve into his characters in films such as 3:10 TO YUMA and PANDORUM, and he recently spoke out about his character for WARCRAFT.

Regarding who he’s playing:

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.”

When it comes to Warcraft lore, I’m a total newb, so I looked up Medivh on the World of Warcraft Wiki and this is the entry:

Magus or Magna Medivh was the last Guardian of Tirisfal, an ancient line of protectors bestowed with great powers to do battle with the agents of the Burning Legion. He was corrupted even before birth, and possessed by the spirit of the demonlord Sargeras who used Medivh in his plan to conquer Azeroth. Medivh contacted the orcish warlock, Gul’dan, and together they opened the Dark Portal, which allowed the Burning Legion to begin its destruction of Azeroth. He was slain shortly after by a party led by one of his friends, Lothar.

Shortly before the beginning of the Third War, Medivh returned as a mysterious prophet, manipulating events in order to arrange the formation of a last-ditch alliance between the mortal races on Kalimdor, guiding them to victory at the Battle of Mount Hyjal. The prophet’s name means “keeper of secrets” in Thalassian. He possessed Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian.

Yeah, that’s all Greek to me. Obviously that’s a lot of information to take in, so I’m just going to wait until the release of the film and get Ben Foster‘s take on the character.

Foster did have a little bit more to say, regarding what Duncan Jones is attempting to bring to a WARCRAFT film, and the special effects being implemented.

In regards to what Duncan Jones is bringing to the table:

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?

In regards to ILM’s effects:

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. No, (my character’s) not (performance-captured), but there are interactions with a lot of characters that are. There are a lot of different kinds of creatures in this picture that I interact with. It’s going to be one helluva 3D event.

While the World of Warcraft is one arena I never bothered stepping in, I’m fascinated to see another large-scale fantasy film, especially in the hands of Duncan Jones.

WARCRAFT starring Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Clancy Brown, Daniel Wu, Paula Patton, Rob Kazinsky, Ryan Robbins and Toby Kebbell will hit theaters on March 11th, 2016.