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​

 

[Scribe]

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

As long as you acknowledged that the Emperor was your Lord, the Imperium was the only Human civilization accepted, and you accepted the Imperial Truth as your State Religion, sure 'peacefully'.

There was no debate however. There was no give and take. It was always "join us, we will be stronger together" with the only alternative being forced assimilation via 'compliance'.

Several stories make this clear during the HH run. There is no 'peacefully co-existing' human empire along side the Imperium, even the Mechanicum was assimilated under the pretense of the Emperor being the Omnissiah.

 

[TheSword]

As long as you acknowledged that the Emperor was your Lord, the Imperium was the only Human civilization accepted, and you accepted the Imperial Truth as your State Religion, sure 'peacefully'.

There was no debate however. There was no give and take. It was always "join us, we will be stronger together" with the only alternative being forced assimilation via 'compliance'.

Several stories make this clear during the HH run. There is no 'peacefully co-existing' human empire along side the Imperium, even the Mechanicum was assimilated under the pretense of the Emperor being the Omnissiah.

Sure you recognize the emperor, imperial truth, make a tithe to the imperium and otherwise you get to live your life in peace with your own power structures and what’s more are protected by the legions and get access to interstellar travel and trade.

What’s the alternative? Allow potentially dangerous pockets within the frontiers of Imperial space. Don’t forget these human pockets were once part of an imperium but were isolated by old night. They were often corrupted by chaos or aliens. There are many examples of that shown.

 

[Scribe]

What’s the alternative?

Live free.

 

[Scribe]

This conversation is one of the reasons I love 40K however. How much are you willing to give up to live in relative safety? Would you support an organization that willingly sacrifices its people? Is the potential harm, worth the lives of 10 innocents? 100? 10,000? Billions? What if your organization, is founded on lies? Does that change the math? What if your perfect paragons (if you belive the propaganda!) are emotionally stunted, psychologically crippled flesh golems, who are actually your kidnapped sons, mutilated and conditioned into the perfect killing machines in the name of a Corpse-God?

lol

 

[TheSword]

This conversation is one of the reasons I love 40K however. How much are you willing to give up to live in relative safety? Would you support an organization that willingly sacrifices its people? Is the potential harm, worth the lives of 10 innocents? 100? 10,000? Billions? What if your organization, is founded on lies? Does that change the math? What if your perfect paragons (if you belive the propaganda!) are emotionally stunted, psychologically crippled flesh golems, who are actually your kidnapped sons, mutilated and conditioned into the perfect killing machines in the name of a Corpse-God?

lol

That’s before we even get to the psykers too weak to pass sanctioning who are instead used as charcoal bricks for the golden throne.

 

[schneeland]

A lot of what was written on the last pages about the negative qualities of the Imperium of Man is probably true, but at the same time my impression is that this only surfaces when people dive deep into the lore and take a wider view on the Imperium. Because if look at some of the popular novels (Eisenhorn, Gaunt, Cain) or video games (Dawn of War, Space Marine) I read/played, the protagonists seemed fairly good-natured, sometimes even heroic, and the Imperium, while often dysfunctional, overly buerocratic and plagued by problems from within, did not actually appear so bad, at least not when compared to Chaos, Tyranids and Necrons.
So given that we're talking about a show that will probably be designed to hold some mass appeal, it seems likely to me, that we will end up with some at least "mostly good" Space Marines or Imperial Guard soldiers, and maybe one or two traitors or misguided individuals.

 

[Scribe]

A lot of what was written on the last pages about the negative qualities of the Imperium of Man is probably true, but at the same time my impression is that this only surfaces when people dive deep into the lore and take a wider view on the Imperium. Because if look at some of the popular novels (Eisenhorn, Gaunt, Cain) or video games (Dawn of War, Space Marine) I read/played, the protagonists seemed fairly good-natured, sometimes even heroic, and the Imperium, while often dysfunctional, overly buerocratic and plagued by problems from within, did not actually appear so bad, at least not when compared to Chaos, Tyranids and Necrons.
So given that we're talking about a show that will probably be designed to hold some mass appeal, it seems likely to me, that we will end up with some at least "mostly good" Space Marines or Imperial Guard soldiers, and maybe one or two traitors or misguided individuals.

And this is kind of (exactly) the problem.

The surface level take, it becomes easy to promote the Imperium/Marines as hero's. After all they look like us, they are the 'Human' faction, and its simple to go 'ok yep thats me' as they 'defend humanity from its many enemies'.

GW is at fault for this as much as any misinterpretation by new fans, or even sadly some long term ones who dont get it.

At any deeper look, the Imperium is no better than the worst of the setting, and precisely because they are Human, its worse. Nids are just hungry, and Chaos is the true hero of the setting.

Ahem...

 

[schneeland]

At any deeper look, the Imperium is no better than the worst of the setting, and precisely because they are Human, its worse. Nids are just hungry, and Chaos is the true hero of the setting.

Ahem...

 

[Scribe]

 

[Ruin Explorer]

They're not going to get an outsider to write it. This is going to be either an adaptation of an existing GW novel line or an original work written or outlined by one of their biggest writers.

I really doubt the latter will be true.

It could be an adaptation, but there's no "outsider/insider" with 40K, and it's bizarre to suggest that there is. Everyone is writing for 40K for the first time at some point, and GW have shown no unwillingness to let people "new" to 40K writing "go deep" (c.f. Adrian Tchaikovsky, for example).

The most likely scenario is an original work by someone who isn't an existing 40K writer. They might have someone onboard as a consultant or whatever of course.