Chris Metzen thinks Henry Cavill would make a 'dreamy' Arthas in a Warcraft film

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A mock-up of Cavill as the Warcraft 3 villain recent came to the attention of Blizzard developers, and they like it a lot.

(Image credit: Mustafa Kemal Sezeroğlu)

Henry Cavill. He's a hell of a Witcher. He'd make a great Emperor of Mankind. He's the sexiest system builder we know. And on top of all that, a number of Blizzard developers, including former Blizzard senior vice president Chris Metzen, think he'd make a most excellent Arthas Menethil.

The whole thing started in September when graphic designer Mustafa Kemal Sezeroğlu posted a movie poster mock-up for a not-actually-real Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King film, with Henry Cavill in the title role. 

Image source: Mustafa Kemal Sezeroğlu (Image credit: Mustafa Kemal Sezeroğlu)

It wound up on Reddit in short order, naturally, but didn't get much traction after that—until Netflix released the images of Big Geralt to promote the upcoming season 2 of The Witcher.

That led to speculation on Twitter that Cavill would make a pretty good Arthas too, a sentiment that eventually came to the attention of Blizzard folks including writer Christine Golden, associate narrative designer Anne Stickney, and Metzen.

Of course, that led to another mock-up, this one courtesy of redditor Shara184:

(Image credit: Shara184 (via Reddit))

Unfortunately, the odds of another Warcraft film happening anytime soon are not good. Despite showing early potential, the 2016 movie was a big letdown , and director Duncan Jones said in 2018 that the experience was "really, really difficult and at times disheartening." Which isn't to say that he wouldn't be up for making a sequel, but he was clear that he'd only do it with a "lower budget [and] less cooks in the kitchen." I bet he'd make room for Henry, though.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.