Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Comic-Con 2022 Panel Recap & Footage Description

The Dungeons & Dragons gaming franchise is taking a big shot at the big screen with the upcoming release of Paramount's movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Little has been seen of this Dungeons & Dragons film from Jonathan Goldstein (Game Night, Vacation) – other than it boasts a impressive cast of stars, including Chris Pine (Wonder Woman, Star Trek), Michelle Rodriguez (Fast X), Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton), Sophia Lillis (IT), and Hugh Grant. 

With a lineup of star like that, and some highly-anticipated first-loo, footage, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had a lot of potential to impress. 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves SDCC Panel Recap

The Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves panel began with SDCC maestro Eddie Ibrahim coming out to commerrate Hall H being back in-person after a three-year gap. Eddie handed the panel off to panel moderator Karl Jacobs, who is a big D&D fan in his own right. The crowd was given the usual rules and regulations about recording and such, and then we were off with a behind-the-scnes look! 

...Which unfortunately was glitchy and didn't work right. At first. But then we got to see some epic filmmaking process on the second try!

After the footage, producer Jeremy Latcham (Iron Man) was brought out, along with director and screenwriting team Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. The pair joined Latcham in talking about how long they've been working on the film throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how happy they are to share it now. 

Daley and Goldstein went deep into their respective D&D history – with Daley explaining that it was not the intent to recreate the game, so much as capture the feeling of playing the game – namely, the camaraderie and community it creates. 

Goldstein talked about finally having the wide variety of visual effects – from classic animatronics to CGI – at their disposal, in order to create the world of Dungeons & Dragons and its creatures. Daley joked that they got the same VFX team that created Baby Yoda (Grogu), so what more could we want? 

The cast of Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was brought out – starting with Chris Pine, sporting some long blond hair. Michelle Rodriguez topped that by doing a full tuck and roll onstage; Rege-Jean Page just saluted the crowd and absorbed the applause. Sophia Lillis also opted for a regular stroll – while Hugh Grant was just class, as usual. 

Pine talked about how his nephew (13) was a huge D&D player, which motivated him to explore the offer. He talked about how getting the prep materials for the film brought him and his nephew – and eventually his family – together in a way he hadn't seen before – and never expected from D&D (given his family). He talked about wanting to "spread the gospel of D&D" by helping make this film. 

Michelle Rodriguez described being from Jersey – and as such, growing up with D&D. When she got the call to play a barbarian (not a Viking!) she was all about it. 

Regé-Jean Page talked about being D&D "adjacent" growing up, between his "angry guitar playing" and "Diablo and Chono Trigger" gaming. He, too, loves the community-building aspect of the game. 

Sophia Lillis was a D&D kid to the point that, after transferring schools and leaving her party behind, she snuck back to her old school regularly to play the game. 

After stating that Hugh Grant was a life-long D&D fan, Michelle Rodriguez chipped in that Grant was acutally a lifelong "S&M fan." That got a nice rousing laugh from the crowd. Grant played into well, stating that it was true, and that he is indeed a "Dungeon Master." After that, all he had to say is he was glad to be here. 

Chris Pine got things back on track, talking about filming Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves in Northern Ireland as a Speilbergian experience, and how J&J's D&D script had the fun and bouncy he was looking for, and tha the cast tried to keep alive all throughout the filming. 

Next, a new clip from Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was played! 

Footage Description

After another slightly glitchy start, the scene we saw was the D&D team (Pine, Rodriguez, Lillis, Justice Smith) going to a barbarian graveyard to help find a mystical helmet – by interviewing corpses. Smith's Mage character uses some necromancy to bring back a first corpse with a five-question limit – but some communicative mishaps ruin that interview. What unfolds next is a comedic sequence of the group talking to dead Barbarians and the flashbacks of their deaths creating a frustrating "Whisper down the lane" effect, which results in multiple dead ends (pun) and a lot of corpses having to be dug up. 

Hugh Grant described the scene being a prime example of the "Monty Python vibe" that made him laugh out loud – a rarity for Grant when reading scripts. 

J&J described all the creatures and authentic lore, working with groups like The Wizards of the Coast, to ensure hardcore D&D fans walk away happy. 

Footage #2 Description

A second clip from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves showed the party being placed by Hugh Grant's gamemaster character into an eve-shifting maze, alongside other competing parties. The groups are being stalked by a creature that's a panther with Venus Fly Trap tentacles and mouths out of its sides. The panther creature stalks down a lot of red shirts, using powers like illusion casting. The maze arena also had a lot of signature D&D maze traps and loot, from weapons to treasure chest that comes alive and tries to eat Michelle Rodriguez's character! The clip ends with the Panther creature cornering Chris Pine's character, who doesn't see the illusion trap coming! 

Q&A 

The Q&A portion included a question about which class of D&D warrior each cast member would take. Mages were the popular answer – though Page did a monologue about the importance of support classes, that went over well with the crowd. 

Fans were assured that there are a lot of deep D&D Easter eggs in the film – but wouldn't answer whether some of the ones Stranger Things has made possible (Mind Flayer, Vecna) will be included in the lineup. They said the hardest thing during filming was finding a yellow field. 

The cast seemed to indicate they WOULD be down to return for a sequel – assuming they all survive, of course. 

Regé-Jean Page was asked a deep paladin class question, but could not reveal which type he is, for fear of SPOILERS. 

Hugh Grant brought things back around by saying his spirit animal is a "Tiger" – which is also his bedroom persona. Page corrected that it is his "Dungeon" persona. 

The directors and producers teased that there's at least one D&D community member getting a cameo in the film – but wouldn't tease anything else. 

Final question from a young fan was what would each cast member take from set. Daley joked Chris Pine looted the set; Michelle Rodriguez actually did steal her axe; Regé would steal a dagger sword (allegedly) because it lights up and has a smaller sword that pulls out of the hilt; Sophia selected her characters arm slingshot – which she boasts will be a breakout hit. Hugh Grant was cautioned that it was a child's question, but that on every film he takes home a couple of "extras," which he is keeping in his dungeon. Daley joked that the coins they created for the film were actually quite valuable – and definitely got looted by the cast and crew. Latcham called it "outrageous." 

J&J re-emphasized how they used just as many practical effects and animatronics as much as CGI. Rodriguez thanked them, because acting in front green screen with golf balls, "sucks balls." 

The son of D&D's creator was in the audience – and got a special shoutout

As last surprise – the trailer dropped! 

Trailer Footage

The Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Trailer reveals that the party forms after unwittingly stealing an all-powerful artifact for a villain. We get to meet the various characters and get teases of their powers – whether its Rodriguez's barbarian beating up a room of foes; Smith's character using magic; or Willis shape-shifting into an "Owl-Bear" to defeat some enemies. It seems Page's character will be a wild Chaos Paladin -while the end of the trailer reveals that Chris Pine's character is a "planner" (which starts a hilarious dialogue) and a final shot confirms he plays the lute, and will have a musical number in the film. 

The action footage was epic, the comedy was funny, and at first look, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves looks like a winner!