The past few months have been nothing less than a rollercoaster ride for Henry Cavill, who gave up his role of Geralt in Netflix’s The Witcher series in favour of re-playing Kal-El/Clark Kent for forthcoming DCU films, only to be sacked by Warner Bros. a few weeks later. Despite losing those big-name franchises, things are still looking up for the 39-year-old British actor, with Cavill set to star and executive produce a series adaptation of Warhammer 40,000, a well-known science-fiction fantasy miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. In Warhammer 40,000, players showcase battles using miniature models of warriors and fighting vehicles.
RELATED: Cavill Goes Nazi Hunting in Trailer For Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’
Recently, Amazon Studios officially confirmed that the company has managed to nab the global rights to the Warhammer 40,000 game from the game creators, with Henry Cavill, who’s “bringing his lore expertise to the mantle of executive producer, and his sword arm to the starring role.” The agreement will give Amazon Prime Video the rights across film, TV shows and more (most likely video games and animation), giving the streamer full control over the franchise, characters, lore and world.
In a recent press release, Amazon and Games Workshop confirmed the news, revealing, “Games Workshop and Amazon Studios are working together to bring the Warhammer 40,000 universe to screens, big and small alike. And there’s more! One of Warhammer’s most famous superfans, Henry Cavill (well-known for pointing out chandeliers that look like Blackstone Fortresses) is on board, too.” Even Cavill took to Instagram to share the wonderful news with fans, mentioning that “he dreamt of seeing a Warhammer universe in live action” and now it’s finally the time. He said, “To all of you Warhammer fans out there, I promise to respect this IP that we love. I promise to bring you something familiar. And I endeavour to bring you something fantastic that is, as of yet, unseen.”
Henry Cavill in ‘The Witcher’ | Image: Netflix
“Warhammer 40,000 is set in the far future, where humanity stands at the edge of what might be its brightest future, or its darkest age. The threats to humankind’s empire are many — traitors driven by the fires of ambition, alien empires sworn to reclaim the stars, and the corruption of reality by malevolent gods,” teases the press release. The upcoming live adaptation will be executive produced by Vertigo Entertainment and Henry Cavill with Games Workshop’s Andy Smillie and Max Bottrill alongside Amazon Studios. Presently, it’s unclear which Warhammer 40,000 character Cavill will be breathing life into in the upcoming Prime Video series or about other cast members involved with the series.
During the announcement, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon and MGM Studios, said, “Warhammer 40,000‘ has captured the imagination of fans of all ages, from all walks of life, and all over the world. We are excited to work with Henry, Vertigo Entertainment, and Games Workshop across our Amazon entertainment businesses on this brilliant, immersive franchise for our global customers to experience for years to come.”
