RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from IGN — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 2 sources
Games Workshop has made a number of significant announcements on the Henry Cavill Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Universe, as well as new Amazon animations based on its tabletop games.
After concluding negotiations with Amazon to create Warhammer 40,000 movies and TV shows in December 2024, Games Workshop has now finally provided an update on the progress of the project. In a financial report, Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree said that Amazon had brought onboard United Artists (UA) and Mike Flanagan, who, having completed initial outlines, “should soon be moving on to script.”
Vertigo and Warhammer 40,000 superfan Henry Cavill “remain involved as they have been for some time,” Rountree added, which will come as some relief to those who took the radio silence around the project as a sign that Cavill may have exited his role as steward and star.
What happens next? Well, it sounds like it will still be some time before we get firm details on the setting and characters, if work hasn't even begun on a script. And we don’t yet know if Flanagan’s work relates to a movie or a TV show. Rountree did say that “UA have been decisive and brought their renowned pace and quality to the project,” though, so hopefully news will start to pick up.
What does the decision to bring Flanagan in tell us about what to expect? He’s best known for horror, having created the Netflix shows The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, among others. He’s also behind the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series Carrie, and wrote the first draft of the script for the upcoming DC Universe film Clayface.
So, it stands to reason that whatever this Warhammer 40,000 TV show or film is, it leans into horror. If that’s true it could be hugely exciting for fans. The grimdark 41st millennium is most famous for bombastic battles between Space Marines and terrifying aliens, but Warhammer 40,000 has plenty about it that can be considered horror, even body horror, with the horrible Death Guard rotting themselves and everything around them and daemons of the Warp giving everyone nightmares.
Cavill, in a recent interview with Esquire , touched on the “complexity” and “trickiness” of adapting the Warhammer 40,000 IP. But, he insisted, he was loving the challenge. Bringing Warhammer to life "is a dream come true," Cavill said, "but it's different from what I've done before, in the sense I haven't had my hand on the tiller of things before. It's wonderful doing that. It is a tricky IP, and a very complex IP, and that's what I love about it. The challenges that come with putting this on the page in a way that is doing justice to that complexity, that trickiness, and that nuance, is a challenge I'm enjoying enormously."
When the Games Workshop / Amazon deal was announced, Cavill issued a statement on Instagram saying he’d been “working away in concept rooms, breaking down approaches to the enormity and magnificence of the Warhammer world."
He added: "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!"
Who might Cavill play across the Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Universe? Talking to IGN in 2021, Cavill expressed interest in playing one of the Primarchs or Captain-Generals , who are high-ranking key characters from the Warhammer lore. But does the Amazon project need to be more grounded than a big galactic epic to keep it within a realistic scope? We’re left with scraps to mull over, such as recent comments from Dan Abnett about NDAs and upcoming books .
The news doesn’t stop there, because Games Workshop also announced that it has almost completed an episode for Season 2 of Amazon’s animated anthology series, Secret Level, following the success of the Warhammer 40,000 episode in Season 1. This one, though, is set in the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar universe (fantasy). So don’t expect a follow-up to Titus’ adventures ahead of the release of Space Marine 3.
Fear not, because Games Workshop announced it has begun work on a full animated Warhammer 40,000 series featuring the Deathwatch. This series will be written by John Orloff, with Blur again animating, and released through Amazon. “We can’t wait to see it!” Rountree said.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.