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​

 

[Ghal Maraz]

And here we are, directly from the horse's mouth:

"Major update on Amazon Studios Warhammer stories

It’s official - Games Workshop and Amazon Studios have finalised their deal - the creative guidelines are nailed down, and we’re all set to bring Warhammer to the screen. For those of you so inclined, you can read the super jazzy legal announcement here.

But what does that actually mean?

Well, it means we now have synopsis and ordering for the stories we’re going to tell... yep, we said stories! It might have taken a year but it was a year well spent! And what fun - sifting through the enormity of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, debating characters, story arcs and the thematic grit that underpins it all.

So, what’s next? When will the first project hit screens?

It'll be some years. Project One* is about to go into development proper. So, next up is the script/s that will form the basis of everything else to come.

Of course, as with all carefully crafted things, this all takes time... and trust us when we say, everyone involved is las-focused on getting it all just right.

As soon as we know more, we’ll let you know!

In the meantime, don’t forget the Warhammer 40,000 episode of Secret Level is available to watch over on Amazon Prime Video from the 10th December".

 

[CharlesWallace]

So I don't really watch video, but I know Henry Cavill played superman and the witcher, and everyone seems to love him. How come he's not playing those roles any more? Just bad luck? I'm confused why he's not the same as the captain america guy or iron man, with like a multi year thing going for him

 

[payn]

Warhammer is one of those games that I've always wanted to get into, but just struggle to commit to. I already spend enough money on Magic: The Gathering.. And these minis aren't cheap. That's also only considering the monetary investment. I don't really have the time, nor the desire to get into painting on top of my other obligations and hobbies.

But there's a growing population of 40k players at my LGS. I may not be able to resist the siren song for much longer.

I hope Cavill's show is rad.

I got into 3D printing for Battletech. Lots of my BT players are former 40K and couldn’t afford or keep up with it.

That’s the show I want!

 

[trappedslider]

So I don't really watch video,

So, he's had a few recent roles like a camo in the recent deadpool movie, Argylle, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and a couple of things that are currently in post production one video game and one movie. Then a number of projects in pre-production.

We could have a whole separate thread on why his role as superman in the DCEU (before Gunn) didn't take off (pun INTENDED)

 

[Gradine]

So I don't really watch video, but I know Henry Cavill played superman and the witcher, and everyone seems to love him. How come he's not playing those roles any more? Just bad luck? I'm confused why he's not the same as the captain america guy or iron man, with like a multi year thing going for him

Trappedslider covered the DCEU situation already (or at least in as much depth as the conversation really deserves, pun and all), but him leaving The Witcher was I believe due to creative differences with the people making the show, because Cavill is a nerd ass superfan who would absolutely be complaining on Reddit about it if he wasn't... you know, Henry friggin Cavill. Instead he gets to be the nerd ass superfan who gets to make and star in a Warhammer 40k show. Which it has always seemed obvious that that's what he'd always wanted to do in the first place.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the property in general; the actual game was outside my price range even when the setting and tone would've held any appeal to me. But I would watch the hell out Henry Cavill as CIAPHAS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM every day of the week and twice on Sunday, so a gal can certainly still dream.

 

[TiQuinn]

I know pretty much nothing about Warhammer 40K, but I will watch this just on the basis that Cavill seems so damn committed to getting this off the ground. I love labors of love.

 

[Stalker0]

So I don't really watch video, but I know Henry Cavill played superman and the witcher, and everyone seems to love him. How come he's not playing those roles any more? Just bad luck? I'm confused why he's not the same as the captain america guy or iron man, with like a multi year thing going for him

Ultimately your never going to get the true answer, but we do have some notes from the various sides that we can look at.

Superman
While Cavil has done a great job as superman, the DCU has faltered in the face of the MCU juggernaut. It just hasn't taken off as they hoped it would.

Now James Gunn is trying to reboot and revamp the DCU (a herculean task if there ever was one). And when you try to restart a property, one of the first things you often do is replace the actor. Has nothing to do with the quality (or lack) of the previous actor, but people will always associate the actor with the previous movies.

If your rebooting superman, but you still have Cavil, it would just cause confusion (wait, but didn't superman do X in the last movie, how come he has Y now?). With a new actor, thats an indicator that "this is new, and different from the previous".

Witcher
There are two sides to his story. On the one hand, its quite clear that Cavil had a lot of issues with the direction the show was moving to. He has multiple times declared himself a guardian of the witcher books, and has fought hard to have them move the author's "intended way". That has caused strain with the creative team.

The next part depends on your point of view. Some argue that Cavil was right to fight, and the showrunners have bananas in their ears and the decline of the show demonstrated that Cavil was right to argue with the team. Cavil was forced out unjustly by a team that didn't really understand the material they were working with.

Others would argue that Cavil is an actor, not a writer, and that every adaption from books to the screen require change and modification. While its fine to bring up concerns, at the end of the day the actors job is to act, and so making public his criticisms about the show's direction put the creative team in an uncomfortable situation. Ultimately Cavil became too difficult to work with, and was fired without being fired.

What is the truth? Like most things...probably something in between.

 

[trappedslider]

Never forget that Cavil let the call informing him that he'd been chosen to play Superman go to voicemail because he was in the middle of a WoW raid.

 

[Gradine]

Never forget that Cavil let the call informing him that he'd been chosen to play Superman go to voicemail because he was in the middle of a WoW raid.

 

[fbnaulin]

Nice. I'm very ignorant about Warhammer in general, having playing some videogames and boardgames in the universe, never a TRPG. But, I'm curious about this project, and glad it's Henry Cavill who is leading it. Cool guy.