A new still frame from the upcoming Monster Hunter film reveals that the movie will be taking even more inspiration from Monster Hunter: World. The photo, released on the Japanese Mantan website, shows actress Milla Jovovich in character as Lieutenant Artemis and rocking a piece of equipment that will be familiar to players of the game. [Thanks, Anime News Network!]
The Monster Hunter film’s star’s left arm bears none other than the Slinger, the handy all-purpose tool. In the game, Slingers are used by Research Commission hunters to everything from critter capture nets to flash pods. As of Monster Hunter: World‘s Iceborne expansion, the Slinger can even launch the Clutch Claw, a grappling hook that attaches the hunter to the monster’s side.
Other familiar pieces of gear have shown up in the Monster Hunter film’s promotional material. Posters released in February showed Jovovich holding the iconic Giant Jawblade Great Sword and the Great Hunter’s Bow in the hands of Tony Jaa (who plays “The Hunter”). The gear pieces were quite accurate to the game, save for the fact that the props seemed somewhat smaller than their in-game counterparts. Then again, the props might be sized down to allow humans from this world to wield them, considering the story is about Jovovich’s Lt. Artemis being transported from our world to the setting of Monster Hunter.
First announced in 2016 at the Tokyo Game Show, the movie is being directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, who also directed the Resident Evil film adaptations. Jovovich also starred in those films as “Alice”, an original character created for the films. Ron Perlman, T.I. Harris, Diego Boneta, Hirona Yamazaki, Meagan Good and Josh Helman also play roles in the Monster Hunter film.
Monster Hunter will debut on September 4, 2020. Monster Hunter: World will release Iceborne‘s fourth Title Update in July 2020.
