Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves producer Jeremy Latcham reveals two Dungeons & Dragons races that were considered for the movie but didn’t make the cut. The movie brings the feel of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign to the big screen with action, humor, and world-building. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves built out the world with classic monsters and playable races.
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In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant for the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves digital release, Latcham revealed two Dungeons & Dragons races that were almost included in the movie. He shares a hilarious chase scene that would have centered around a Tortle. Latcham also explained why they reused the black Dragonborn as the beggar. Check out Latcham’s full quote and interview below:

Jeremy Latcham: When they steal the horses at the very beginning of the movie after they’ve escaped from Icewind Dale, and they go to those two yurts. We had this bit where we wanted to build a practical Tortle, which is this humanoid turtle race. And we wanted the Tortle to slowly chase them to try to get his horse back. And it was going to be this very slow moving chase scene with a Tortle just trying to get by. And it was like, Guys, this is going to be so expensive and at this point in the movie we jus want to get the movie going.” I think everyone was right to tell us like we can’t do the Tortle.
And then we wanted to have a Grippli in the film… And then we got the price from Legacy for what it was going to cost to build another fully realized, because we weren’t going to do with CG. There was no talk of doing this Grippli CG. If we’re doing a Grippli, it’s gonna be a puppet, could be a guy, could be puppeteered. Hands being moved by rods and all this stuff. And they’re like, “Oh, how much is this joke gonna cost? We can’t afford another really expensive joke.” Because we already had the really expensive joke with the Intellect Devourers. Where we spent so much money, designing and modeling and building intellect devourers to come scurrying through.

How New Races & Creatures Can Enhance Future Dungeons & Dragons Movies

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves fills out the world with monsters and races that bring the iconic game based on imagination to life on the big screen. The movie includes Tabaxi, Aarakocra, and Dragonborn on top of the classic humans, half-elves, tieflings, and halflings. The more animal-humanoid characters often serve multiple purposes, with Tabaxi and Jarnathan, the Aarakocra, being prime examples. While both help to further flesh out the world, they also infuse moments with humor and are key plot or character beats.

Related: 9 Dungeons & Dragons Species Turned Into Live-Action For Honor Among Thieves

The young Tabaxi, who is swallowed by a giant fish, switches the usual cat and fish dynamic and shows Xenk’s heroism, while Jarnathan is hilariously the key to Edgin and Holga’s escape. The slow chase with the Tortle would have been hilarious, but the Intellect Devourers joke was ultimately the right choice because it reveals more about the characters. Although the Tortle and Grippli were cut, they could be used if Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves popularity leads to a sequel.

The directors’ desire to incorporate more creatures and races into the movie opens the door to more in-universe jokes, an even richer world, and more prominent characters who are less human. A bigger budget could mean that a character like Jarnathan could have a bigger role. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves set the stage for a franchise based on the lore of Dungeons & Dragons with characters like Xenk, the Harpers, Jarnathan, and the monsters that the game is famous for.