Amazon has signed a deal with Games Workshop to acquire the intellectual property rights that will allow the tech and media giant to create movies, TV series and other content based on the popular Warhammer 40K franchise.
Warhammer 40K has been one of the most popular properties among gamers and others for almost 40 years. It started as a table game, but has also spawned numerous popular video games and books over the years.
This news may be interesting enough on its own, but fans of the franchise may also be interested to know that Henry Cavill – the actor who played Geralt in Netflix’s The witcher series and Superman in Zack Snyder DC’s superhero films, among others – is attached to the project as an actor and executive producer.
Cavill posted a short teaser on Instagram announcing his involvement:
For 30 years I’ve dreamed of seeing a Warhammer universe live. Now, after 22 years of experience in this industry, I finally feel I have the skills and experience to bring a Warhammer Cinematic Universe to life. Working with Natalie Viscuso at Vertigo has been an unspeakable blessing, without her we might not have found the perfect home at Amazon. And having a home like Amazon gives us the freedom to stay true to the vast scope of Warhammer. To all the Warhammer fans out there, I promise to respect this IP address we love. I promise to bring you something familiar. And I’m trying to bring you something wonderful that’s hitherto unseen.
Our first steps are to find our Filmmaker/Creator/Writer. Watch this space, my friends.
For the Emperor!
There have been plenty of lackluster tweaks of geeky intellectual properties lately, probably including Amazon’s Under the spell of the Ring and The wheel of time. But Cavill’s involvement could allay fans’ concerns, as Cavill is a devoted Warhammer 40K nerd who has often spoken in interviews about figure painting and other Warhammer-related activities.
Cavill recently stepped down from the role of Geralt in The witcher– replace with The hunger Games’ Liam Hemsworth. His run as Superman has also ended, according to a recent announcement from DC Studios co-chairman James Gunn.
Warhammer 40K is set in the very distant future (the 40K roughly refers to the years in which it takes place), which is analogous in some ways to what historians called the Dark Ages of Europe. The franchise is the definition of “grimdark,” painting a picture of a universe where billions toil to serve a God-Emperor and expansive, brutal warfare.
However, the universe is much vaster than its politics, with countless threats to humanity, including Starship Trooperslike hordes of insects and space orcs, among other creatures.
It’s not yet known what part of that sprawling universe and its sprawling timeline spanning millennia of Amazon’s series will take place, but it’s possible that Amazon has acquired the rights due to the franchise’s Marvel Cinematic Universe-esque scale and potential.
