It looks like players hoping for the Monster Hunter movie to be forgotten might not get what they were hoping for, as the guide for Iceborne makes nods to it, technically making it canon.
In the iceborne book there is a passage under Fatalis of a note by a fictitious character wondering if the fate of Shrade was due to an invader from another dimension/time, remarking to it being hard to believe but there is a tale of a link to another world in a desert somewhere pic.twitter.com/xlcYEKKO9y
— Gaijinhunter (@aevanko) May 29, 2022
According to Monster Hunter content creator GaijinHunter, the guide book for Iceborne contains a reference to the Paul WS Andersen movie, specifically when discussing the game’s final boss, Fatalis:
The Black Dragon of Lore that is said to have eliminated an entire kingdom. Where did it come from and why did it come? I find it hard to believe that it resides at Castle Shrade. I wonder if its some contraption that allows it to cross time and space. I find it very hard to believe but there was a rumor about a person that appeared from another world in some desert.
GaijinHunter himself was unhappy about the news, hoping for the movie to be buried in the annals of history.
“If they introduce other dimensions and crap to the lore of monster hunter, especially in connection to that crap movie, I’d never forgive capcom. Why did they even add this ‘speculation’ part. Yuck“.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the game would acknowledge the presence of the live action movie, which has drawn many criticisms from fans.
During its launch, Monster Hunter World featured an event quest that established the movies as taking place some time after the events of Monster Hunter World, as the quest ends with movie character Artemis giving a book to the Admiral, setting up why he would be able to understand her in the movie.
Still, if you operated under the assumption that all event quests were non canon, this addition in the Monster Hunter Iceborne guide would certainly cement the movie’s placement in the Monster Hunter timeline.
On another note, this isn’t even the first time Monster Hunter World has played with alternate dimensions- they’re a huge part of the Witcher crossover quest, as well as the FFXIV Online crossover, which both deal with the concept of otherworldly creatures getting pulled into Monster Hunter.
Given the near-universal derision for the film it makes sense that fans might want it to just remain a buried story.