The new Dungeons & Dragons movie, titled Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, is set for release on March 31st, 2023. It's been a far longer wait than initially anticipated as a result of COVID-19 delays, and with such anticipation, curiosity around the movie's plot has also built.

As the classes of the movie's adventuring party have now been revealed (via ScreenRant) to be made up of a barbarian, bard, paladin, sorcerer, druid, and rogue, fans of the tabletop game have started theorizing what monsters they could be taking on. D&D's long history provides a wealth of options, but there are some iconic monsters that seem like the perfect choices.

Updated on November 28th, 2022 by Stacie Rook:

The first trailer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has been released (via YouTube), giving audiences their first look at its adventuring party brought to life. Several classic D&D monsters make an appearance in the trailer, suggesting that the movie will contain plenty of references that players of the game will enjoy. Even so, much about the movie remains a mystery, and there are a horde of unrevealed monsters that could still feature.

Gelatinous Cube

The Gelatinous Cube as seen in Dungeons & Dragons

One of the more impractical monsters in D&D history, the gelatinous cube has been a fixture of the game ever since its earliest incarnations. Categorized as an ooze, the monster is described as a transparent 10-foot cube made of a gelatinous substance capable of engulfing those in its way.

RELATED: 10 Best Dungeons & Dragons Subclasses In Xanathar's Guide To EverythingMost effective in dungeon corridors where heroes cannot escape its path, the cube is not often utilized in actual gameplay, but remains a classic foe nonetheless. If the big-screen heroes fail their Perception checks against a cube, they just might get trapped.

Owlbear

An Owlbear from Dungeons & Dragons looking menacing

Although an owlbear can be one of the cutest monsters for players to come up against in a game of D&D if there are cubs present, the adults have a fierce appearance and violent reputation. As its name suggests, the owlbear combines the physique of a bear with the face and beak of an owl, allowing it to attack with the weapons of both animals, claws, and beak.

First introduced in Greyhawk, a supplementary rulebook for the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons, owlbears have been a fixture ever since. With D&D's 5th edition stating they can be tamed to varying degrees of success, there are plenty of opportunities for them to appear on-screen, whether as reluctant friend or foe.

Beholder

The Beholder roars at a player in Dungeons & Dragons

Baring its teeth on the cover of the 5th edition Monster Manual, the Beholder is shown in all its glory. A spherical, floating creature, it has a large mouth and single centralized eye on its face, with additional eyes attached to stalks on its head that have the ability to shoot rays of different magical energy onto its enemies.

RELATED: 10 Dungeons & Dragons Tweets That Perfectly Understand The DM StruggleTraditionally inhabitants of the Underdark, one of D&D's most recognizable settings, the presence of Beholders on-screen would not only prove challenging for the spellcasters of the party, but allow the story to extend into the cavernous world below the Prime Material Plane.

Mindflayer

3D Mind Flayer with its hand raised in Dungeons & Dragons

Also known as Illithids, the Mindflayers are monstrous humanoids with a distinctive magic that allows them to affect a target's mind. They have an octopus-like head, with four tentacles that obscure a circular mouth filled with rows of teeth. Rather gruesomely, the brains of sentient beings are a part of their diet.

With a name already familiar to fans of Stranger Things, where a spider-like villain is based on the D&D monster, the Mindflayer has already proved itself an unsettling name for an opponent. Within the movie, a Mindflayer's otherworldly presence could help show the expansive nature of D&D's setting.

Mimic

A mimic shaped like a treasure chest in D&D

Mimics remain a popular foe in D&D, making them a likely choice for an on-screen adaptation. They are shape-changing creatures with the ability to take on the appearance of inanimate objects, most often depicted as treasure chests, luring prey (and many an unsuspecting player) to them.

While it stays in place, the mimic is indistinguishable from a true object it has taken the shape of, and with its reputation as a frustration to unaware adventuring parties, its presence within the movie would allow its characters to experience a similar feeling.

Displacer Beast

The Displacer Beast roaring in Dungeons and Dragons

With its appearance of a huge black cat, the Displacer Beast initially calls a panther to mind, but the comparisons stop when considering its six legs and the two tentacles that curl back from its shoulders, which end in spikes.

RELATED: 10 Best Companion Apps For Dungeons & DragonsIn addition to this, the Displacer Beast uses an illusion that makes it appear to be standing apart from its actual location, making landing attacks on it difficult. With its uncanny appearance and signature ability, the Displacer Beast would make for a visual spectacle on-screen.

Kobold

A Kobold holding a slingshot and a knife in Dungeons & Dragons

With a reputation for being low-level foes used when players of D&D are first starting out on their adventures, the Kobold remains an underrated Dungeons & Dragons monster.

As tiny lizard-like humanoids, they seem a far cry from the Dragons they share draconic blood with, but in more recent years, the introduction of the Kobold inventor, and the ability for characters to play as them (as depicted in Volo's Guide to Monsters) has broadened their limitations, allowing them to be used on-screen in a number of ways.

Lich

The Lich screaming in Dungeons & Dragons

Undead creatures who seek to live on and defy death, Liches are spellcasters who have used necromancy in order to store their soul in a magical object called a phylactery. Given that killing a Lich's body is not enough to destroy it, they can be tricky to defeat, and they have access to all the magical knowledge they had as a living person.

One of the most underappreciated aspects of D&D is reoccurring enemies, and with their ability to rise again—not to mention their near-immortality—a Lich could fill this role for the movie's heroes. Alternatively, a villain's desire to become a Lich could serve as a recognizable motive.

Red Dragon

A red dragon atop a mountain in D&D

Synonymous with the Dungeons & Dragons name, the Red Dragon features not only on the ampersand of the game's current logo, but also on many of the early edition's rulebook covers. Using its mighty fire breath, the Red Dragon has the potential to reduce a band of heroes to skeletons in no time.

A Red Dragon's presence on-screen would give the movie the chance to have a satisfying large-scale battle that has a real connection to the movie's source material, and as is the case with all the most powerful dragons in D&D, act as a true threat for the heroes.

Tarrasque

A Tarrasque roaring in D&D

A Dungeons & Dragons game wouldn't be complete without the threat of a Tarrasque, the most challenging opponent the Monster Manual has to offer. Built like a mighty scaled dinosaur, this fifty feet tall, seventy-foot-long creature has resistance to most magics and a truly staggering amount of Hit Points.

With D&D lore stating that only one Tarrasque is thought to exist, and considering its truly devastating power, it seems somewhat unlikely that such a mythical creature would appear in the movie. But then again, it would certainly make for a cinematic and dramatic moment.

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