‘The Huntsman Winter’s War’ Stars Three Actresses in Warrior Mode (CHARACTER POSTERS)

'The Huntsman Winter's War' Stars Three Actresses in Warrior Mode (CHARACTER POSTERS)

By Anne Thompson

'The Huntsman Winter's War' Stars Three Actresses Warrior Mode (CHARACTER POSTERS)

Anne Thompson

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In packaging the sequel to “Snow White and the Huntsman,” Universal chief Donna Langeley has cobbled together “The Huntsman Winter’s War”‘s strongest elements. The film (which is missing both Kristen Stewart and director Rupert Sanders) will be released on its previously announced date, Friday, April 22, 2016.

Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, the Oscar-nominated VFX master behind the first film, this “epic-adventure” follows the huntsman Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron), who are joined by Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain, who both have action movie bonafides.

Here’s the official plot, which has clearly been influenced by the success of Angelina Jolie’s “Maleficent,” also produced by Joe Roth, who is also supervising the sequel to “Alice in Wonderland.” Why settle for one evil sorceress when you can have two?

Long before the evil Queen Ravenna (Theron) was thought vanquished by Snow White’s blade, she watched silently as her sister, Freya (Blunt), suffered a heartbreaking betrayal and fled their kingdom. With Freya’s ability to freeze any enemy, the young ice queen has spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen—including Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior Sara (Chastain)—only to find that her prized two defied her one demand: Forever harden your hearts to love.

When Freya learns of her sister’s demise, she summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But once she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the wicked sisters threaten this enchanted land with twice the darkest force it’s ever seen. Now, their amassing army shall prove undefeatable…unless the banished huntsmen who broke their queen’s cardinal rule can fight their way back to one another.