A new duo of photos from the set of the Assassin’s Creed movie, based on the popular video game franchise of the same name, shows off Michael Fassbender in his dual roles as an assassin in the 15th century and an inmate of sorts in the present. Why is Fassbender playing both? Well, as with most video game plots, it’s complicated.
See, there’s this thing called an Animus, and it can basically make folks relive the experiences of their ancestors. And the sketchy Templars, an order loosely based on the historical faction, want descendants of assassins, an order of people that, uh, kill other people, to do this for reasons. It’s not clear whether the movie will follow the game’s plot, which is downright nonsensical at times, but the basics remain the same: dude relives experiences of ancestor for nefarious reasons.
So, that’s why Fassbender is playing both, and why they’re so very different beyond the fact that the same actor portrays them. The two photos, both of which come from Empire, show two sides of that coin: the shackled assassin in the past with sword in hand, and the man in the present in what appears to be some kind of imprisoned situation. In the game, the Templars aren’t above forcing descendants to relive their ancestor’s lives, so it seems likely that Fassbender’s Lynch is being forced or coerced into it.
That doesn’t even touch on the elephant in the room. That, for better or worse, there’s almost a curse on video game-based movies. Perhaps the best video game movie to ever release was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and that had the benefit of actually being based on a graphic novel soaked in video game culture rather than a game itself.
Assassin’s Creed, the movie, stars Michael Fassbender as Aguilar/Callum Lynch, as well as Marion Cotillard, and is scheduled to release in theaters on Dec. 21, 2016.