The live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake had the opportunity to make eight changes from the original movie. As far as the changes in the How to Train Your Dragon remake go, a lot of them are minor. Some bigger changes showcase more of a connection between Astrid and Stoic, while others flesh out the diversity of Berk’s Vikings.

Beyond those, however, How to Train Your Dragon‘s more minor changes are the most notable differences from the 2010 animated original. Whenever any live-action remake of an animated classic is crafted, a big part of the post-release discourse is how it changed or adhered to the story of the original. How to Train Your Dragon largely avoided this.

The aforementioned minor changes were not enough to alter the heart and story of the original by the time of How to Train Your Dragon‘s ending, with many classing the 2025 remake as one of the most faithful ever created. What this faithfulness does is shift the discourse towards what changes from the original could have been made.

Admittedly, too many changes would have been a negative thing. That said, there are many additions that the live-action How to Train Your Dragon could have included that flesh out the world established in the three animated movies and their TV spin-offs, benefit the film’s characters, or better set up the impending story of How to Train Your Dragon 2.

8

Hints About Hiccup’s Mother

One change that could have been made in How to Train Your Dragon is adding more details at what happened to Hiccup’s mother. While a few scenes in the live-action remake mention Hiccup’s mother by name and give indications of her fate, the film remained faithful to the original by not going overboard on the details.

However, changing this is one way 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon and its upcoming sequel could have benefited. The sequel will reintroduce Hiccup’s mother, reconnecting her with her son and husband. Setting up her death, the impact it had on Stoic and Hiccup, and how badly they miss her in the first movie could have been a good change.

For instance, the flashback to Valka’s “death” from Stoic’s perspective could have been shown in this movie, as opposed to the second one, like in the animated trilogy. This would have made sense for the first movie by giving Stoic and Hiccup something to bond over, all while setting up the sequel in a big way.

7

A Backstory For Fishlegs

Perhaps the most underutilized character in the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon was Fishlegs. Fishlegs does not have a major role in the animated movie, either, but the 2010 story splits an equal amount of screen time between him, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut. The live-action movie, though, does not.

Snotlout receives more development in the remake, yet the same cannot be said for Fishlegs. This makes him feel much more inconsequential to the overall story. Adding a backstory that was not present in the original movie would have allowed Fishlegs’ role in How to Train Your Dragon to feel much more compelling and, like Snotlout’s changes, more sympathetic.

6

A Backstory For Ruffnut & Tuffnut

In the same vein, the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, receive less screen time in the remake of How to Train Your Dragon. The decision to only give Snotlout more development was an admittedly strange one, as fleshing out the twins – and Fishlegs – would have benefitted their characters.

5

Including More Dragon Variations

The original animated How to Train Your Dragon spawned two sequels and a host of TV spin-offs. What this allowed for was a mᴀssive influx of dragon variations from this world. In staying faithful to the original movie, though, 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon does not focus on these variants.

Like the original, the remake of How to Train Your Dragon primarily showcases the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Nadder, Hideous Zippleback, Monstrous Nightmare, Gronckle, and Night Fury. The dragon book that Hiccup reads, like in the original, hints at more variants, but none are shown in detail, with the remake even cutting an integral scene involving the small Terrible Terror dragons.

With the benefit of being able to look back at the animated franchise and the hundreds of dragons it has included, the dragons in the How to Train Your Dragon remake could have been more varied.

For instance, the opening battle sequence could have included more dragon variants. Moreover, the aforementioned dragon book sequence could have visibly shown them in Hiccup’s imagination, indicating how scary some of these beasts can be. This way, 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon would have outdone the animated original from a worldbuilding perspective.

4

Setting Up Drago Bludvist

Much like how the film could have teased Valka for How to Train Your Dragon 2, 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon could have set up Drago Bludvist. Drago is the compelling antagonist of the 2014 animated sequel, who has a history with Berk and Stoic. Setting up this history in the first movie would have been a solid change.

Not only would it flesh out the history of Berk, but it would set up the wider world of other dragon tamers. Even a small scene could have been included in which Hiccup finds dragon armor on his adventures with Toothless, teasing Drago’s more militaristic, dominant tactics for dragon mastery that How to Train Your Dragon 2 delves deeper into.

3

Expanded On Toothless’ Loneliness

Again, the benefit of looking back on the original animated trilogy gave 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon the chance to set up future movies. One way it could have done this is by showcasing Toothless’ loneliness as the last remaining Night Fury.

This plot point is integral to the third animated movie, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Through establishing Toothless’ loneliness in a way the original did not, the remake of How to Train Your Dragon would have made the lovable character more sympathetic, formed a better foundation for his friendship with Hiccup, and teased the storyline of the third movie.

2

More Details About The Red Death

The primary antagonist of How to Train Your Dragon is the Red Death. One of the very few flaws of the original movie was not delving much into the Red Death beyond establishing it as a Queen Bee of sorts among dragons. Therefore, the remake of How to Train Your Dragon could have provided this.

It could have been cool to see Toothless inside the Red Death’s nest, potentially showcasing what day-to-day life was like for the dragons beneath their tyrannical queen. This would have driven home the core theme of the movie that the dragons are not evil; they simply are forced to follow an evil master.

1

More Bonding Between The Kids & Their Dragons

Finally, another opportunity I think 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon missed out on was fleshing out the relationship between Hiccup’s friends and their dragons. I always found it slightly strange that the dragons that have been in captivity on Berk and used as training dummies for the kids, and hurt by them, would be so quick to trust them.

2025’s How to Train Your Dragon could have delved into this, showing Hiccup guiding the others in how to gain their dragons’ trust. The scene, as it is in both the original and remake, is fairly short and involves the kids simply touching their dragons on the snout.

Having a more in-depth sequence in which Hiccup’s knowledge is pᴀssed on to the others would make How to Train Your Dragon‘s core story, emotional themes, and central character arc shine through better, all while setting up the ending of the film and its sequels, in which the entirety of Berk tames their own fire-breathing beast.