'Underworld: Blood Wars' First Female Director, New Villains, and Selene's Love Interest Replaced?

The "Underworld" franchise started in 2003 with the first film, "Underworld", which introduced viewers to a world of Lycans (werewolves) and vampires locked in a centuries-old feud, with mankind stuck in the middle, unaware of the supernatural battle. 

The movie has since expanded, releasing sequels "Evolution" (2006), "Rise of the Lycans" (2009), "Awakening" (2012), and "Blood Wars" (2017). Although the movies star Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a powerful female vampire warrior, they have always been manned by male directors.

'Underworld' Gets Its First Female Director

The latest "Underworld" installment, however, gets its first female director, Anna Foerster. According to Inquirer's Pop, Foerster has directed several hits like some episodes of the TV series "Outlander", and films "Alien: Resurrection", "The Day After Tomorrow", and "Aeon Flux" to name a few. Clearly, Foerster is no stranger to dark, action-packed thrillers.

Foerster's great love is cinematography and she credits her experience in cinematic arts as an edge she brings to the table for the new "Underworld" film. "What I bring to this movie is a defined visual concept," the director said, "the way the camera moves, the type of shots, the way I introduce characters in certain scenes."

In an interview, Kate Beckinsale told FilmInk, "I don't think that gender has much to do with whether you're a good director or not, but it's cool for us to have a woman's take on a franchise that has a female at the centre of it." Fans everywhere are hoping to see whether "Blood Wars" will give the series a fresh spin.

New Actors and Villains - Werewolves, Humans, and Vampires

Aside from a new director, fans will finally see Michael Corvin, Selene's hybrid Lycan-vampire love interest. The biggest surprise, though, is that his character, once played by Scott Speedman, will be portrayed by Trent Garrett, a newcomer to the "Underworld" series. The film will also have new villains from both the vampires and the Lycans, who now have a new leader named Marius (Tobias Menzie). Semira (Lara Pulver), a power-hungry vampire, is set to go toe-to-toe with Selene in the film.

Movie Release Date

"Underworld: Blood Wars", produced by studio Sony/Screen Gems, was set to be released this October, as a Halloween treat, but was pushed to premiere in January 2017 instead, according to Variety. No explanation was given, but this release date comes ahead of another Sony/Screen Gems production, "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" which will air in North America on Jan. 27, 2017 (although it will premiere in Japan on Dec. 23, 2016).

In "Blood Wars", viewers will see Kate Beckinsale reprise her role as Selene and Theo James ("Divergent") as David. There are also new faces like Bradley James ("Merlin", "Damien"), Lara Pulver ("Sherlock"), Daisy Head ("Guilt", "Fallen"), and newcomer Clementine Nicholson, among others.