Dreamworks’ live-action How to Train Your Dragon has all the makings of the animated film, yet the tone feels different; this change was not only inevitable, but vital. First released in 2010, How to Train Your Dragon tells the story of Hiccup, a teenage Viking who struggles to fit in with his dragon-fighting society. One day, he befriends a rare Night Fury, and realizes that dragons may not be enemies, but misunderstood allies. 15 years after the original’s release, a HTTYD live-action adaptation is hitting theaters, and it has the potential to be one of the best films of the summer.

Just a few months from its premiere, audiences have a fairly good sense of what 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon will look like. The trailer shows off the cast in all their Viking glory, showcases the film’s CGI and offers glimpses of iconic scenes, including Hiccup putting his hand out to Toothless and Hiccup taking Astrid on a dragon ride. Based on this, How to Train Your Dragon looks like it will be quite accurate to the original film, yet there is a sense that the film’s colorful goofiness will be replaced with a darker, more realistic style.

The Live-Action How To Train Your Dragon Looks Like A Much Darker Movie

How The Original How To Train Your Dragon Compares

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2025’s How to Train Your Dragon won’t be out until June 13, yet the film’s promotional materials have already hinted that the remake will have a darker ambiance than the original. Based on the trailer alone, the live-action adaptation has less vibrant colors, more intense action, and a stronger sense of drama. Hiccup is not characterized as an awkward, goofy guy who is full of jokes, but as a nervous teenager with a different outlook on life than his peers. 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon seems to lean into realism as much as a movie about dragons can.

This is definitely a shift away from what 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon offers. The original movie is far more humorous, focusing heavily on the irony of a Viking teenager who is averse to violence. Hiccup’s personality, and those of his peers, are more over-the-top and comedic, and their physicality is looser; the Vikings are capable of things that live-action humans aren’t. Plus, the visuals of the movie are much brighter and more vivid. The sky is particularly blue, and the forest is especially green. Everything is turned up to 10 in the original How to Train Your Dragon.

The Shift Away From Animation Makes HTTYD Naturally More Scary

Live-Action Has To Take HTTYD More Seriously

2025’s How to Train Your Dragon being less light-hearted may seem disappointing at first, but in reality, the tonal shift makes sense. By transitioning from animation to live-action, the movie inevitably becomes scarier. The dragons are not just adorable cartoons, but are huge creatures facing off against real humans. Even in the trailer, audiences can see that the dragons are more intimidating. As a result, How to Train Your Dragon has to take on a more intense tone to make the stakes of the dragons make sense. Really, audiences should want to be spooked by the dragons.

How to Train Your Dragon being in live-action also means the film has to feel more serious.

How to Train Your Dragon being in live-action also means the film has to feel more serious. It wouldn’t make sense for Hiccup or any other Viking to be cracking jokes in the face of a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly creature. If audiences are going to believe in the stakes of the movie, then the characters have to as well. Now, this doesn’t mean that How to Train Your Dragon will be devoid of humor or fun, but it does mean that the live-action film will have a more dramatic, intense edge. The movie must take itself seriously, so audiences do too.

Hiccup And Stoick’s Relationship Looks A Lot More Serious In Live-Action

A More Serious Father/Son Relationship Will Benefit HTTYD

It isn’t just the dragons that will be darker in 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon. Hicuup’s relationship with his father will also get a more serious representation. Similar to the dragons, Gerard Butler’s Stoick will not just be a silly cartoon, but a hulking, intimidating Viking who can cause real damage to his enemies. This change in his physique will make his relationship with Hicuup more prominent, as Hiccup will struggle to compare to his father. In live-action, their disagreements will be more heartbreaking, and the risks they take for each other will feel more dangerous.

Once again, this more serious edge will only benefit How to Train Your Dragon. Hiccup’s relationships with Toothless and Astrid are important, but his bond with Stoick is probably the most vital in terms of emotions. Where Toothless and Astrid are new friends, Stoick is family. Their dynamic has higher stakes and more history attached. In this way, How to Train Your Dragon providing more time and energy for Hiccup and Stoick will likely give the movie a stronger emotional core. Audiences won’t just be worried about their lives, but about their relationship as well.

The Stakes Feel More Grounded In The Live-Action HTTYD

HTTYD Will Be As Thrilling For Adults As It Will Be For Kids

The bottom line of How to Train Your Dragon’s darker tone is that it will make viewers more invested in the movie. In animation, How to Train Your Dragon has its ups and downs, but there is a sense that everything will work out. However, in live-action, everything has to be more believable, otherwise it is easy to poke holes through. Therefore, the film’s more stark ambiance forces audiences to really believe in the stakes. There is more worry, more fear, and a more satisfying pay-off once the characters reach their happily ever after.

Another benefit of these higher stakes is that How to Train Your Dragon will be as thrilling for adults as it will be for kids. The original movie is definitely more catered towards children with its accessible animation style and funny dialogue. Yet, the live-action film gets adults in on the story by making the threats more real and the action more exciting. Those who grew up watching the original How to Train Your Dragon may get even more enjoyment out of the live-action version.

A Live-Action HTTYD Could Never Be As Silly As The Original

What To Expect From 2025’s HTTYD

Ultimately, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon was never going to be as goofy as the original. Adapting an animated film into live-action almost always means changes have to occur, and for How to Train Your Dragon, it is the tone being sacrificed. Sure, 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon will feel like a different kind of movie, but it may be better for it. The same story will be told, but in a more action-packed and refreshing way. There is no point in remaking a movie if it is going to feel exactly the same as the original.

That being said, How to Train Your Dragon has not officially come out yet, so there is still an air of mystery around the film. Regardless of what audiences have seen in the trailer and other promotional materials, the film itself may be far better or worse than marketing made it out to be. The best case scenario is that How to Train Your Dragon kicks off a new trend of successful live-action Dreamworks movies, and brings this beloved franchise back into the limelight.