Geralt (Henry Cavill) steels himself for what comes next in The Witcher Season 3 Episode 8 “The Cost of Chaos” (2023), Netflix
Followers of the emperor, rejoice, while heretics drown in sorrow! For the emperor! It has been confirmed that Amazon MGM Studios has officially moved forward with the Warhammer 40,000 television series, featuring Henry Cavill as its star and executive producer.
This marks a major step in the creation of a cinematic universe based on Games Workshop’s legendary tabletop game. Cavill, a lifelong fan of the franchise, is set to bring the sprawling universe to life, combining his passion for the lore with his acting and production expertise. But there are some worries. Fans such as myself can’t help but think of Cavill’s experience with Netflix’s The Witcher and wonder, will he be screwed again by bad showrunners?
The timing of this announcement is quite interesting because it marks exactly two years after Amazon acquired the global rights to Warhammer 40,000 in December 2022. Now, the first piece of the potential franchise has been greenlit. According to Deadline, a mini-writers’ room was convened to establish a creative vision for the universe. Based on the material developed, Amazon opted to proceed with a TV series as the franchise’s inaugural project.
While no showrunner has been officially named, negotiations are reportedly underway. According to Games Workshop’s July financial report, Amazon and the company have until December 2024 to agree on “creative guidelines for the films and television series to be developed by Amazon” to secure the rights for future installments. And with this announcement, it seems that those involved made it just in time.
Henry Cavil, commenting on moving forward with Warhammer 40k Series via InstagramFor Cavill, the project is a dream come true. He recently shared his excitement about the franchise’s progress in an Instagram post. “To celebrate some Warhammer news, I decided to make a pilgrimage to the very first place I bought Warhammer models over 30 years ago,” he wrote, “the Little Shop, on my home island of Jersey!”
“My incredible team and I, alongside the brilliant minds at Games Workshop, have been working away in concept rooms, breaking down approaches to the enormity and magnificence of the Warhammer world. Together, we’ve been sifting through the plethora of incredible characters and poring over old tomes and texts,” he adds.
Cavill’s message concludes, “Our combined efforts have led us to a fantastic place to start our Universe, which has been agreed upon by those up on high at both Amazon and Games Workshop. That starting place shall, for now, remain a secret. Watch this space, though – more to come in time!”
A trio of Ultramarines prepares to spread the word of the God-Emperor in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (2024), Saber Interactive
Warhammer 40K is set in a grim, far-flung future where humanity stands on the brink of greatness or destruction, constantly threatened by ambitious traitors, alien forces, and the corruption of reality by malevolent gods. Their god-emporer of Mankind is their only means of navigating the realm of Chaos which makes faster-than-light travel possible. It’s not only a game, but dozens of books of lore, video games, fan fiction, and more. It’s one of the most creative and fan-involved franchises in existence.
Cavill collaborated with Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Natalie Viscuso to secure the Warhammer intellectual property before pitching it to Amazon. Vertigo will also executive produce the series alongside Cavill, Andy Smillie, and Max Bottrill from Games Workshop, as well as Amazon MGM Studios.
Though it’s a passion project for those involved, there’s a good amount of worry due to Amazon’s less-than-stellar record of adapting from such source materials. So far with The Wheel of Time and Rings of Power, the studio has shown they will spend the capital on shows, but will it put the right people in charge?
Henry Cavill & Matthew Vaughn talk ARGYLLE, WARHAMMER, HIGHLANDER I Happy Sad Confused via YouTube
Well, Cavill is both starring and executive producing this time, so fans may feel a sense of hope that he’ll be able to deliver, despite challenges from the agents of Chaos.
