‘These Are Not Cartoon Characters’ — Call of Duty Director Peter Berg Praises Modern Warfare’s ‘Nuanced Storylines,’ Promises Movie With ‘a Very Strong Soul’

Call of Duty movie director Peter Berg has teased more details from his live-action film, promising an adaptation with “a very strong soul” that explores “the cost of war.”

The filmmaker behind Skydance-Paramount’s upcoming reimagining of Activision’s massive first-person shooter series dived into his thoughts on the franchise during an interview with ComicBook. We already know the Call of Duty movie will focus on the Modern Warfare portion of the FPS universe, and it sounds like Berg and writer Taylor Sheridan have already looked to the games it’s based on for inspiration.

“So Modern Warfare, if you really look at the missions, and the storylines, and the characters – like Captain Price, and Soap, and Ghost, and Alex – these are complicated humans,” Berg said. “These are not – and no disrespect – cartoon characters or comic books. These are very nuanced storylines; like, there’s a real soul to the Modern Warfare universe…

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“And, yes, there’s violence, and there’s hardware, and equipment, and there’s killing – but underneath it I think the game, and the craters of the game, are really looking at the cost of war, the cost of having to be a warrior who’s, for whatever reason, chosen to put himself between real danger and the rest of us, and the burden that these guys carry.”

Berg seems to be putting in the work to nail a Modern Warfare story for the big screen, but not every fan is convinced that he’s the right guy for the job. That’s mostly because he had some not-so-nice things to say about gaming back in 2013. When asked for his take on video games based on war at the time, he said, called them “pathetic,” using the term, “keyboard courage.”

“I think anyone that sits around playing video games for four hours… It’s weak,” Berg elaborated at the time. “Get out, do something.”

These days he’s changed his tune, and judging by his affection for characters like Captain Price and Ghost, he’s hoping to do right by Modern Warfare and its fans. His upcoming film, The Mosquito Bowl, is a sports-war film set to premiere later this month. His vision for the Call of Duty movie will start to take shape after that.

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“And that’s real stuff,” Berg added when talking about Modern Warfare’s connection to the real-life cost of war. “This is not just ‘Hey, let’s shoot them all up and shoot popcorn!’ Like, there’s a soul underneath it, that I understand that Taylor Sheridan understands, and I think probably not quite as graphically violent as Mosquito Bowl, but there will be a very strong soul, and consequence of war within the film, called ‘duty.'”

The Modern Warfare universe most recently expanded with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which concluded Activision and Infinity Ward’s reboot story when it launched yesterday. Its story has been called one of the darker entries the franchise has offered in recent memory.

The Call of Duty movie, meanwhile, is set to come to theaters June 30, 2028. Additional plot details have not been revealed, though fans have already been busy sharing their hopes for who may play familiar (and unconfirmed) characters like Captain Price, Ghost, and more. It’s a year that seems set to be big for video game adaptations, with an Elden Ring film also set to release a few months prior. A Battlefield movie is also in the works.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).