Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War Introduces Kumail Nanjiani’s Fittingly Neurotic Orc Character

07/29/2017 06:17 pm EDT

Earlier this month Middle-earth: Shadow of War revealed its core voice cast, which, somewhat surprisingly, included Silicon Valley and The Big Sick star Kumail Nanjiani. Not that the guy doesn't have the nerd cred, he certainly does, but the Lord of the Rings franchise is usually takes itself fairly seriously. How would a comedian like Nanjiani contribute to the game?

Well, it turns out Nanjiani will be playing The Agonizer, an orc who wants to be the biggest and baddest in Mordor, but is falling just a bit short. Here's how Nanjiani sums him up:

"My character is an orc. What's different about him, is he wants to be a badass, he wants to be cool, but he really second guesses himself and overthinks everything. He writes these insults, but in the moment, he's not sure if they're good. I hope me being in the game doesn't ruin the game for me. It's going to be tricky -- this guy sounds like me, so I don't want to kill him. Or maybe I do want to kill him? I'll just murder myself."

I think Kumail Nanjiani is hilarious and have loved pretty much everything he's been in, but I'm not sure I love this. Again, the Lord of the Rings is typically pretty straight-laced – Nanjiani's sarcastic, modern style of humor doesn't exactly fit. But hey, if I can deal with sexy Shelob, I suppose I can also take this in stride.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War also stars veteran video game voice actor Troy Baker as Talion, Alastair Duncan (Westworld) as Celebrimbor, Laura Bailey (Supergirl in Injustice 2) as elite assassin, Eltariel, and Pollyanna McIntosh (Jadis from The Walking Dead) in an unspecified role. Not a bad lineup!

Middle-earth: Shadow of War storms onto PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on October 10.

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