Credit: Warner Bros.Almost exactly a year ago, the newly re-organized DC Studios revealed that Henry Cavill would not return to play Superman in the rebooted DC Universe, to much fan outrage. A few months before that, Netflix had announced that he would be replaced by Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher, and, in the time since, fans have wondered where the British actor would go after losing two hugely popular franchises.
It turns out that Henry Cavill has officially signed on to his dream franchise, leading a huge new series of adaptations of Warhammer 40,000, the long-running dystopian science fiction gaming series. It had been previously announced that Games Workshop and Amazon Studios were in negotiation to adapt the property into a “universe of Warhammer programming,” and now, things have been finalized and are steaming ahead.
The Warhammer 40,000 franchise initially began as a table-top miniature wargame set in a far-off future in which a technologically advanced, authoritarian human Imperium fights endless wars against the forces of Chaos. Since then, it has expanded into innumerable books, comics, and video games but has yet to have a breakthrough in television or film. A star like Henry Cavill as the center of a new franchise will likely go a long way toward making that happen.
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Games Workshop has issued a blog post confirming that Amazon Studios has signed a full agreement regarding Warhammer 40,000, saying:
“Back in December last year we announced Games Workshop and Amazon Studios had signed an agreement in principle to work together to bring the Warhammer 40,000 universe to screens, big and small.
Well, today we have an update, and it’s one we’ve all been longing to hear. We’ve now signed the full agreement and the next stage can begin!”
The company also confirmed that Henry Cavill would executive produce the new Warhammer 40,000 universe and star in projects, saying:
“Now comes the fun part: working out all the creative details with our partners and getting the first script written and into production. What Warhammer 40,000 stories should we tell first? Should we kick off with a movie or a TV show? Both?!
All we can tell you right now is that an elite band of screenwriters, each with their own particular passion for Warhammer, is being assembled to help bring the setting and characters you love to the screen. This illustrious group will be championed by Henry Cavill, who stands ready to take his place as executive producer – bringing his pen, sword and/or spear to the project.”
Games Workshop also warns Warhammer 40,000 and Henry Cavill fans that it will likely be several years before a project is released, which implies that there’s a whole lot of work to do before we see the former Man from U.N.C.L.E. as a Space Marine or the Emperor of Mankind.
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Henry Cavill is famously a huge fan of gaming, reportedly once missing a phone call from Zack Snyder regarding his DCEU role because he was engrossed in World of Warcraft. In 2020, he revealed via an Instagram post that he was an enormous Warhammer 40,000 proponent, saying, “Genuinely can’t get enough of the lore [Games Workshop] have built over the decades. They have been some of my most enthused reads!”
Now, it’s time for Henry Cavill to put his money where his mouth is and finally show us what he thinks a Warhammer 40,000 adaptation should look like. We’ll only have to wait about three years for it.
Inside the Magic reached out to Amazon Studios for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing. Games Workshop declined to comment.
Will Henry Cavill stick with this new franchise? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below!