At its zenith, over 12 million people actively played “World of Warcraft.” That”s no small number, but it still leaves a huge swath of humanity in the dark about what this new movie about Humans vs. Orcs is all about. Legendary Pictures hopes to spark mainstream interest in the world of Azeroth this week when the first full-length trailer for “Warcraft” drops during BlizzCon.
But we live in a world where even trailers get trailers and “Warcraft” is no exception. As of today, fans can get sneak peek at what”s in store when the film hits theaters next year. And for the biggest of the lore nerds, the background landscapes are iconic enough to give us a pretty good idea of where our heroes will be traveling.
Lucky for you guys, I”m one of those nerds.
War is coming. See the exclusive trailer debut this Friday. #WarcraftMovie https://t.co/c2sSLAWU4N
– #WarcraftMovie (@warcraftmovie) November 3, 2015
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If you don”t want to know anything about the plot – even the tiniest hints left behind by this teaser – abandon ship now because we”re about to dive deep.
In order of teaser appearance, “Warcraft” appears to feature the following zones:
#1: Arathi Highlands/The Hinterlands. Those jagged peaks beneath the Gryphon are too grey to be Red Ridge Mountains or the Blasted Lands. The only structure that high up? Aerie Peak, home master the Wildhammer Dwarves, master Gryphon riders.
#2: Stormwind. Capitol city and starting zone for humans. Pretty straight forward.
#3: Westfall. Just to the South of Stormwind lies Westfall, home of human agriculture. The golden hues and thatched-roof cottages are familiar to anyone who has spent even a cursory amount of time collecting pumpkins. But which farm is on fire? The Jansen Stead? Fulbrow”s? Saldean?
#3a: Thoradin”s Wall? When the Gryphon sweeps down on the battlefield later in the trailer, is that the wall in Arathi Highlands that separates the lands of humans from the Scourge?
#4: Dun Morogh. Home of the and starting zone for Ironforge dwarves. Yes technically this could be Winterspring but as that is on a completely different continent, let”s just abide by Occam”s Razor.
#5: Elywnn Forest. The human lands just ouside of Stormwind. That wolf takes a bite out of the Alliance on their home turf. FOR THE HORDE!
#6: Deadwind Pass: A blue lightning storm on an jagged, desolate mountain peak? Sounds about right. With the geographic location of the Dark Portal being one zone to the right in the Blasted Lands (which is where the orcs come from), the Horde would have to trek through this dangerous area to make it to Ironforge and Stormwind.
#7: Stranglethorn Vale. If you look over the shoulder of the guy with the blunderbuss, you”ll notice vines hanging down from the trees. That is classic STV jungle landscaping. Does this mean we might have hope of seeing trolls? Hope everyone is watching out for tigers and for the love of God, stay off the road!
Basically if you look at a map of the Eastern Kingdoms, “Warcraft” is taking audiences on a whirlwind tour of the southern half of the continent.
Check back Friday to see the full trailer!