Despite hints and rumors of its release, a sequel to the 2016 Warcraft movie has yet to be confirmed. Here’s what we know so far.
The 2016 Warcraft movie, based on the hugely popular and ongoing Blizzard franchise, sought to break the heavy stigma around video game adaptions. While the movie didn’t manage to offer everything fans had hoped for, it still performed moderately well and has left many wondering if the long-rumored sequel is ever going to happen.
The movie opens with an orc shaman named Gul’dan heading into the human world with the use of dark magic. After the orcs put together an army called the Horde, King Llane goes to war with his human army to protect his land, despite leaders of each side hoping for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. But, unfortunately, the evil Gul’dan slays the noblest of the orc leaders as the portal back to their home world is closed off. Finally, a human finds a basket containing a baby orc, Thrall, a key character in Warcraft lore.
The Cliffhanger Ending Could Hint at a Warcraft 2
With the unresolved nature of the film’s narrative, fans have been expecting news of a Warcraft sequel for a while but have been met with silence. While the movie didn’t perform great at the box office, it received a respectable rating of 76 percent from fans on the review site Rotten Tomatoes, although it has a vastly lower 28 percent from critics. Warcraft also surprisingly gained a huge following in China, beating out the box-office revenue of Star Wars: The Force Awakens within a few days.
Most of the criticisms were the same as what many video game adaptations face. With decades of lore across games and books, Warcraft had the task of condensing much of it into a two-hour movie, meaning a lot of the fan-favorite events and characters had to be left out. On the flip side, the biggest surprise was the CGI effects. While video game adaptations usually have lower budgets, Warcraft had some of the best-looking computer-generated characters of any movie at the time.
Warcraft’s Director Makes a Sequel Sound Unlikely.
While it seemed like a Warcraft sequel was likely, tweets and interviews from director Duncan Jones sound like it may never happen. In June 2020, Jones tweeted that he had a three-film outline for Warcraft, going into detail about the plot of each movie. However, with the silence from Blizzard and the numerous employee harassment lawsuits the company is facing, many fans have lost hope for a sequel.
Still, reports of the sequel’s existence haven’t faded away completely. Rumors still spread of the movie being in development as a reboot and Duncan Jones has been quiet on the matter for quite some time. With the latest expansion for the World of Warcraft game now out, the renewed demand for media tied into the lore could finally see the announcement for Warcraft 2 that fans have been waiting for.
