The character cut from Drizzt Do’Urden was supposed to appear in a significant capacity.
Apparently, he would have filled the role of Regé Jean-Page’s Xenk, the overpowered paladin whose fighting skills put theirs to shame. In taking his place, Drizzt would have been the character to lead them through the Underdark and help them fight Themberchaud. However, it was not to be. As Latcham said, rights issues kept his cameo from happening. As a result, Drizzt was written out of the story and thus Xenk was born. Had he not been taken out of the movie, Drizzt’s cameo would have carried with it massive implications for the franchise’s future.
Drizzt Do’Urden In Dungeons & Dragons Explained
They weren’t shown in Honor Among Thieves, but the Underdark is the home of a race of dark elves known as the Drow. Known for their evil ways and their devout worship of the spider goddess Lloth, the Drow are among the most hated people in the Forgotten Realms. In Dungeons & Dragons, Drizzt goes against the common perception of the Drow by acting as a force for good. Introduced in R.A. Salvatore’s The Crystal Shard novel, Drizzt turned his back on the Drow years ago and left the Underdark to build a better life for himself.
Encountering great prejudice from the people on the surface due to being a Drow, Drizzt worked to overcome the hatred he endured and established himself as one of the Forgotten Realms’ most renowned heroes. Over the years, he’s developed a strong ing cast of characters to go along with his stories. Some, like Jarlaxle, Artemis Entreri, Wulfgar, Bruenor, and Catti-brie have evolved into fan-favorites in their own right. A few of them have even ed Drizzt across his various video game appearances, such as Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance.
Drizzt’s Honor Among Thieves Role Would’ve Set Up Multiple D&D Movies
By including a character with a history as rich as Drizzt’s, Honor Among Thieves would have laid the foundation for not one, but multiple potential movies to serve as follow-ups since Drizzt is a hero who has headlined well over 30 novels. Introducing such a hero would provide the studio with the framework it would need for a surprisingly long list of D&D adaptations. After all, a substantial portion of Dungeons & Dragons’ most popular stories featured Drizzt as the main character.
Not only that, but Drizzt’s cameo would have come with the expectation of his own standalone adventures. Even though Xenk was a scene-stealing addition to the movie who made the rest of the group feel useless in combat, his role didn’t imply future appearances would be in store, given that he’s simply an original character just like the others. There was no reason to think he’d be in a sequel any more than the protagonists. Drizzt, on the other hand, is a completely different situation. As a character with his own stories, it would make sense that Honor Among Thieves was including him for the purpose of setup.
Which Drizzt Stories Honor Among Thieves’ Sequels & Spinoffs Could Have Used
There would have multiple directions the studio could have taken with Drizzt in the aftermath of Honor Among Thieves' ending. One possible avenue would be his origin story. Since Honor Among Thieves would involve Drizzt returning to his homeland, a prequel could delve into how his story started. Salvatore devoted two books to Drizzt’s life in the Underdark, with the first covering his struggles with growing up in a Drow society. The second explored the period he spent in exile, surviving in the wilderness of the Underdark. A movie could adapt one or both of these stories, and perhaps also take a look at the third book, which saw Drizzt experience life on the surface.
Judging by everything that went on in the timeframe of those books, they could be told in separate movies, rather than packed into a single-movie story. Another way of telling Drizzt’s story would be to follow the formula of the books, which actually sent him off on an adventure through Icewind Dale before diving into his past. In his first book, The Crystal Shard, Drizzt battled an evil wizard who came to the possession of a sentient crystal that manipulated him into forming a monster army. A Drizzt spinoff based on the book, which would revisit Honor Among Thieves’ Icewind Dale setting, could share in the epic and high-stakes feel of Drizzt’s plan to stop the wizard.
His prequels or his first book would be the most obvious stories for a Drizzt spinoff to tell, but they wouldn’t be the only ones. Since Drizzt would already have been established as an adventurer, it doesn’t have to follow the chronology of the books by starting from the beginning. Multiple Drizzt sagas would be on the table, including The Hunter’s Blades, Neverwinter, and Paths of Darkness. There’s also the Crystal Shard’s two sequels, Streams of Silver and The Halfling’s Gem.
Dungeons & Dragons Can Still Tell Drizzt’s Story In Live-Action
On its own, Drizzt getting cut from Honor Among Thieves doesn’t rule out the possibility of the character getting the movie treatment regardless of its lost setup. However, Honor Among Thieves' disappointing box office turnout doesn’t create high hopes for Paramount pursuing more Dungeons & Dragons movies. Had Honor Among Thieves raked in a box office haul much better than $208 million, Drizzt might have stood an excellent chance of being the center of the next movie, even without his cameo. But while that doesn’t look likely now, Drizzt’s story can still be told in live-action, albeit on the small screen.
Unless something changes, it seems Paramount is still moving forward on its previously announced plan for a Dungeons & Dragons TV series. As Dungeons & Dragons’ biggest hero and the character with the most storytelling potential, he’s undoubtedly a strong candidate to be the show’s central protagonist. If the rights issues that stood in the way of his Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves cameo are worked out, several of his biggest adventures could play out onscreen across multiple seasons.
