It’s been talked about for a while, but Henry Cavill has revealed his dream of developing a ‘Warhammer 40,000’ cinematic universe has moved a step closer at Amazon MGM Studios as they officially put a TV series into development.
For those of you who didn’t spend every weekend painting miniatures or in Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000 is an epic tabletop wargame set way into the grim darkness of the far future. Mighty armies clash on countless war-torn worlds and Humanity stands alone, beset on all sides by the threats of the heretic, the mutant and the alien. The first edition of Warhammer 40,000 was published 35 years ago (yes, you are that old!), and has expanded across various media from its tabletop origins. There have been multiple hugely successful video games, alongside comics, novels, animated movies, and many spin-off tabletop games.
Henry is, as I’m sure many of you know, a huge geek, and a MASSIVE fan of Warhammer. He teamed up with Vertigo Entertainment to secure the Warhammer 40,000 IP from Games Workshop to develop a cinematic universe based on the hugely popular game. They took the project to Amazon MGM Studios back in December 2022, giving them until the end of this year to put the project into development or lose the option so Vertigo & Cavill could shop it elsewhere. The former Superman actor has now confirmed it is officially moving into development at Amazon.
Cavill posted a photo to social media of him making a “pilgrimage” to the very first place he bought Warhammer models over 30 years ago, The Little Shop on the island of Jersey, as he announced the news.
“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,” Cavill said. “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!”
Whilst the ultimate goal for Cavill & co is to develop an entire “cinematic universe” based around Warhammer 40K, the initial focus will be on a TV series for Prime Video. There is no showrunner set for the potential series yet, but Cavill himself is set to star… because… I mean… as a massive fan, why wouldn’t he take the opportunity to don some space marine armour!? The series would be exec produced by Cavill, Vertigo Entertainment and Games Workshop alongside Amazon MGM Studios.
The ‘Warhammer 40,000’ TV series is technically still “in development”, so could still not come to fruition, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
