Koei Tecmo (formerly Koei Co.) has been cranking out Dynasty Warriors games since the very first one was released back in 1997. This hack and slash romance of the Three Kingdoms Period of Chinese history has been a staple in the action genre of video games for a generation.
Fans of the series were treated with the announcement of a live-action adaptation back in 2016, and five long years later after tons of filming, post-production, and a world-shaking pandemic, the movie is finally set to be released in spring of this year. An official trailer dropped on March 8th, and it was packed with appetizing action sequences with some great shots of major characters from the game and story. Here's a close look at who fans might recognize from the latest trailer.
Lu Bu
One thing seems clear after watching this trailer: This is going to be Lu Bu's movie. He gets the most trailer screen time out of any other major character and for good reason--he's considered the mightiest warrior-general of his time. Not only is his weapon intimidatingly over-sized, his headpiece is nearly as tall as he is.
Fans can assume that the story will be centering heavily around the romance of Lu Bu, who is played by Louis Koo, and Diao Chan, and how it will bring him to blows with some of the most prominent Warlords of the era. It would be a safe bet that Lu Bu's body count by the end of the movie is going to be as much as a level 99 character in a Dynasty Warriors playthrough.
Cao Cao
Cao Cao, played by Kai Wang, gets the second most screen time after Lu Bu, which leads one to believe that he will be the central foil. There's a flashy horse chase scene between the two in the trailer, likely showing an assassination attempt on Cao Cao, who is the leader of a prominent kingdom in the story.
In the last scene of the trailer, Cao Cao can be seen meeting with the three Sworn Brothers, confirming that the plot will follow the conflict between Dong Zhuo and the historical coalition that aimed to depose him. Fans of the games might think this version of Cao Cao looks a bit too pretty and dainty, so it's up to the filmmakers to make sure he delivers on some Samurai Warrior-level swordplay on par with the level of his ambition.
Guan Yu
It is said that Guan Yu was so powerful that he could dice up an army of a thousand by himself. After just a couple of glimpses of him in this trailer, it's obvious that the filmmakers aimed to convey this reputation on the big screen. Geng Han plays Guan Yu, and the man looks like a natural swinging his halberd through enemies like a scythe through grass.
Since he's one of the three Sworn Brothers, fans will get to see him in one of the movie's most epic showdowns against Lu Bu, but it is Dynasty Warriors, so those who have played the game will also get to revel in a number of showstopping scenes where Guan Yu gratuitously rips battlefields apart.
Diao Chan
She may be the only female character on this list (understandably problematic for some), but Diao Chan is no minor character in the Three Kingdoms story. Known as one of the four beauties of Ancient China, according to legend, she's one of the main wrenches in the gears of Dong Zhuo's reign.
There are different adaptations of the story, but based on the image above it's safe to say the filmmakers are opting for the Dong Zhuo-Lu Bu-Diao Chan love triangle. Hopefully, they are woke enough to give Coulee Nazha, the actress playing Diao Chan, a fun action sequence or two. Even just a scene of her holding a chain-whip for the fanservice would be nice.
Liu Bei and Zhang Fei
The only clear image of these two in the trailer is in this shot, but their involvement in the story should definitely be more significant. These two make up the other two-thirds of the three Sworn Brothers, so they'll be throwing down against Lu Bu at some point in the movie.
Played by Tony Yo-Ning Yang and Justin Cheung respectively, at the very least the casting directors have gotten the looks of the characters spot-on. Yang appears to bring a stately nobility to Liu Bei that is very consistent with the character, while Cheung pulls off Zhang Fei's wild facial hair to a T. Fans of the game will be happy to see an action shot of Liu Bei late in the trailer where he swings his swords forward producing his patented wind-slash, reminding us just how much we can't wait to finally play Dynasty Warriors 9.
Yuan Shao
Yuan Shao, played in the film by Ray Lui, is another famous figure involved in two of the movie's confirmed storylines: the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the fall of Dong Zhuo. Just like the previous two characters mentioned, the filmmakers clearly took extra care to design his look totally faithful to the videogame version.
It's hard to tell from the trailer if he'll be jumping into any action with his trusty rapier or if he'll be mostly relegated to an elder statesman-like character whose main role is to mobilize armies, but it's safe to say that he and his glorious mustache will be deeply entrenched in the conflict due to his loyalty to the Han Dynasty's Imperial family whom Dong Zhuo sought to depose.
Dong Zhuo
Last, but clearly not least, it's everybody's favorite Warlord to root against in the Three Kingdoms story: Dong Zhuo. Played by Suet Lam, Dong Zhuo will surely be a central antagonist in the movie's plot. Not enough is known about how the stories will weave together in this adaptation, but just based on other iterations of the tale he'll presumably be clashing with a lot of other characters from Guan Yu to Lu Bu himself.
He may be a bad guy, but filmmakers will be sure to give him some satisfying fight scenes. He's a titanic figure of the era and deserves an equally titanic send-off.