New Monster Hunter movie poster has an awesome monster and an awkward weapon

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)

On the heels of a new trailer for the Monster Hunter movie, the film's official Twitter account released a slick poster starring lead actor Milla Jovovich and the inimitable Black Diablos. And as is often the case with Monster Hunter movie marketing, fans of the series were quick to note that there's something a bit odd about it. 

First thing's first: as a big fan of Monster Hunter, all I want from this movie is cool CGI monsters, and Black Diablos looks great in this poster. But it's not the monster that players are poking fun at here; it's the weapon. The dual blades that Jovovich is wielding seem to be of the fire element, and if we mosey on over to the Monster Hunter bestiary, we'll see that Black Diablos is literally immune to fire. Ironically, its biggest weakness is ice. Choosing the right weapon for each hunt is an integral part of Monster Hunter, and I reckon Jovovich has her work cut out for here. 

This is an incredibly minor detail not worth skewering the movie or any of its creators over, but it's also pretty funny. And to be fair, every Monster Hunter player has done this at some point. You unlock a new monster to hunt and bring your favorite or newest weapon without reading up on your prey's physiology, and as a result you end up bringing a knife to a gunfight, or indeed fire to an ice fight. I have fond memories of betting on fire damage to carry me to victory against Kushala Daora, only to later discover that electric damage does the trick. Sometimes you just have to learn these things the hard way, and I suspect the film's hunters will have this lesson beaten, clawed, and tail-swiped into them. 

Yes, the Monster Hunter movie will have Palicoes.

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.