Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a movie that anyone can watch, whether you’ve played D&D or not, although, for those who have rolled the dice, they will be able to really appreciate the nuance and detail within the move. However, some of those savvy fans also picked up on something that wouldn’t necessarily be allowed in gameplay, as Doric (Sophia Lillis), a druid, magically transformed into an owlbear. And for co-director Jonathan Goldstein, he actually loved all the discourse surrounding if they should have made that change, and explained to CinemaBlend why he appreciated the debate.
The controversy surrounding this transformation stems from the rules for a druid’s Wild Shape, according to Comicbook.com, which include a druid only being allowed to shape-shift into Beast-type creatures. Per the article, the owlbear is a Monstrosity, which means it’s an unnatural creature created through experiments and bad curses. So, since Doric transforms into a Monstrosity, when technically, as fans thought, she shouldn’t, it sparked quite the debate before the Dungeons & Dragons movie came out on the 2023 movie schedule. While this debate may offend some creatives, for Jonathan Goldstein, who co-directed and co-wrote the movie with John Francis Daley, that was actually a fascinating discussion to have with fans, as he told CinemaBlend:
The early debate over the Doric turning into an owlbear was interesting one, because it showed the passion of the fans and how seriously they take it. And we appreciated it because we debated that internally quite a bit; we were not ignorant to that rule bend that we were doing. So that was a fun one early on in the marketing to see how passionate the fans were.
I love that despite the small controversy that surrounded this creative choice, Goldstein still managed to find the silver lining and see the debate as a positive. As fans pointed out this minor inconsistency in the movie, it really showed how much they care for D&D and how much they want to love this movie.
Goldstein also spoke about the owlbear debate with Comicbook.com explaining why they felt OK making the shape-shifting rule change. The co-director said that they chose to follow the “Rule of Cool,” which meant that he and Daley were like the dungeon masters of their movie, and they wanted their players (or cast) to be able to do anything they thought was cool and fun. Part of the fun of D&D is the freedom to make changes to the world and flex the rules, and that’s exactly what they did here, and it looked oh-so-cool on screen.
Overall, the debate eventually died down, and many people adored Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves as it received rave reviews and lots of audience love. From its creative creatures like the owlbear and the beloved bird Jarnathan to the incredible D&D cast and creatives, this movie is such a fun fantasy adventure. Plus, being able to see all the debate and discourse surrounding it goes to show how much people love and care for this universe.
To see the owlbear for yourself, you can stream Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves with a Paramount+ subscription.