Henry Cavill's Warhammer 40K Show Is Happening

Long rumoured, the Henry Cavill fronted Warhammer 40K TV show is apparently officially a go at Amazon.

Amazon acquired the rights 2 years ago to produce a TV show based on Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 game. Deadline is reporting, and Cavill himself confirming, that the series is now officially in production.

WH40K is the most popular miniature wargame in the world. Originally published in 1987, it is on its 10th edition. Set in the far future, it mixes fantasy tropes with sci-fi in a grim, dark universe. It has spawned multiple tabletop roleplaying games, such as Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, and more, the current lineup being publishing by Cubicle 7.

According to the deal made 2 yeasr ago, Amazon had until December 2024 to mutually agree on “creative guidelines for the films and television series to be developed by Amazon”. There is no showrunner yet. The show will also be produced by Vertigo Entertainment.

To celebrate some Warhammer news, I decided to make a pilgrimage to the very first place I bought Warhammer models over 30 years ago....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. 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!

- Henry Cavill​

 

[TheSword]

I can think of at least one current real world situation where “existential threat” is being used as an excuse for genocide.

To be honest you added this point in later so it’s not covered in my response. The good thing about keeping this discussion in the 40k universe and not bringing in tragic rl examples is we don’t need to debate whether it really is an existential threat or not because the writers of the fiction have already made that clear to us. Genestealers, tyrannids, necrons, orcs, laer, daemons, slaugh, psychneuein, druchari. The list goes on and on.

 

[gban007]

To be honest you added this point in later so it’s not covered in my response. The good thing about keeping this discussion in the 40k universe and not bringing in tragic rl examples is we don’t need to debate whether it really is an existential threat or not because the writers of the fiction have already made that clear to us. Genestealers, tyrannids, necrons, orcs, laer, daemons, slaugh, psychneuein, druchari. The list goes on and on.

Your first 3 examples weren't around when the Imperium formed / became what it is, so aren't a defense for how it operated for thousands of years before they emerged. The latter ones weren't enough of a threat to stop the likes of the Interex doing well prior to the Imperium itself becoming an existential threat to any independent human empires, the Emperor himself certainly seemed to feel the Orks would be come an existential threat, but that doesn't make it so, and his solution for the Chaos threat didn't require the Inqusition etc, indeed the main suggestion is that since he failed, humankind will inevitably fall to Chaos, all the Imperium is achieving now is a delay, but I think pretty open question whether Chaosnwould have been as big a threat so fast if the Heresy hadn't occurred.
Now there are existential threats, and the Imperoum has to be quite hard / ruthless to counter it now, but I don't think that means it has to do everything it is doing to do so.
In saying all that, I enjoy the setting, have just completed a multi-year resd through of the Horus Heresy series, enjoy many of their computer games and the likes of Astartes. I just think there is no good guys except maybe Craftworld Elder, just varying shades of evil or those outside morality altogether (e.g. tyranids and to an extent Orks just acting as per their nature).

 

[gban007]

Do you not just mean, really really bad? What is it about these things that make them evil.

Ultimately good, evil, bad are all somewhat nebulous concepts (after all, what is it about these things that make them really really bad, and not evil?) But using definition of evil being morally repugnant, I find attempting genocide on a group of people to be morally repugnant and thus evil, and there have been all too many instances of this occurring in our history.

 

[gban007]

That just isn’t true because you are using that term in a human being vs human conflict. We just haven’t seen real world threats significant enough to justify it yet.

If we take Genestealers for instance - a parasitic DNA that brainwashes people who are infected, corrupts their physical bodies and offspring, ultimately with the aim of creating guerilla terrorist organization to call a life ending plague of organisms to destroy entire planetary systems. In those circumstances genocide probably is justified against Genestealers.

Yeah, I think the Genestealers open up some interesting philosophical questions around what is best approach, like if the Xenomorphs managed to achieve similar.
Nonetheless, when the Imperium then allows for people to effectively seed genestealers on a planet to allow for breeding / observation, then exterminatus the whole planet afterwards despite the many innocent people still living there after got what info they need (including some live Genestealer specimens) then for me crosses into evil territory.

 

[Scribe]

The latter ones weren't enough of a threat to stop the likes of the Interex doing well prior to the Imperium itself becoming an existential threat to any independent human empires

One of the subplots of the Heresy itself. The Imperium already was showing that it was no better than any other Tyrant driven empire that came before, or the various Xeno that would enslave humanity.

 

[TheSword]

Yeah, I think the Genestealers open up some interesting philosophical questions around what is best approach, like if the Xenomorphs managed to achieve similar.
Nonetheless, when the Imperium then allows for people to effectively seed genestealers on a planet to allow for breeding / observation, then exterminatus the whole planet afterwards despite the many innocent people still living there after got what info they need (including some live Genestealer specimens) then for me crosses into evil territory.

Lots of points made. But the first thing to say is the Imperium is not ‘good’. I’ve said so many times. They’re awful. But so is everyone else.

Second point, when you say the imperium you actually mean the inquisitor, planetary governor, Magos biologis etc that made that decision. The imperium is not good or evil. There are good and bad people in positions of power across it. They do good and bad things. When Inquisitor Kryptman used exterminatus on multiple worlds to starve a hive fleet he was made exomunicato. If his act was evil then was the inquisition doing a good thing by punishing him for it.

If you say there are evil people in control of large parts of the imperium then I would say I agree with you full. For all it contains monolithic entities there are still variety within it.

 

[TheSword]

One of the subplots of the Heresy itself. The Imperium already was showing that it was no better than any other Tyrant driven empire that came before, or the various Xeno that would enslave humanity.

They made peace with many interstellar groups before the heresy. Including the Interex. Unfortunately the heresy (read influence of chaos) ended that. Chaos was the existential threat that the Emperor and others foresaw. Ultimately it (and the need to fight it) brought the Imperium to what it is now.

 

[Scribe]

They made peace with many interstellar groups before the heresy. Including the Interex. Unfortunately the heresy (read influence of chaos) ended that. Chaos was the existential threat that the Emperor and others foresaw. Ultimately it (and the need to fight it) brought the Imperium to what it is now.

Uh no, Humanity was being united under the Emperor, there was no argument against it, and it was pre-Heresy.

 

[gban007]

Lots of points made. But the first thing to say is the Imperium is not ‘good’. I’ve said so many times. They’re awful. But so is everyone else.

Second point, when you say the imperium you actually mean the inquisitor, planetary governor, Magos biologis etc that made that decision. The imperium is not good or evil. There are good and bad people in positions of power across it. They do good and bad things. When Inquisitor Kryptman used exterminatus on multiple worlds to starve a hive fleet he was made exomunicato. If his act was evil then was the inquisition doing a good thing by punishing him for it.

If you say there are evil people in control of large parts of the imperium then I would say I agree with you full. For all it contains monolithic entities there are still variety within it.

Maybe we aren't as far apart as I thought, I guess I feel if enough control by those evil people/ enough evil acts enabled (as any society will have some people committing evil i fear) it creates situation that Imperium as a whole can be described as evil. As a whole I don't think evil is as prevalent throughout society composed to Chaos or the Dark Elder, but given relative scopes / achievements, I think more evil has been achieved by the Imperium than the other two, up until the Great Rift at least, and Horus Heresy may come down to who takes the blame.

 

[TheSword]

Uh no, Humanity was being united under the Emperor, there was no argument against it, and it was pre-Heresy.

Er yes. Many civilizations assimilated into the Imperium peacefully. The crusades were welcomed with open arms by many long night civilizations.