• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Amazon Eyes 'Warhammer 40,000' Series With Henry Cavill Set to Star

Draugoth

Gold Member
split_2_16x9_template_v1-copy-10.jpg




Henry Cavill may not be donning a red cape, but he does have a cool new gig.

The actor, who Wednesday officially hung up his Man of Steel cape after Warner Bros. announced it is going in a new Superman direction thanks to DC Studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, is attached to star and executive produce a series adaptation of Warhammer 40,000, the popular science-fiction fantasy miniature wargame that is set up at Amazon.

Amazon is in final talks for the rights to the game, produced by Games Workshop, after months of negotiations and fending off rival companies that also sought the rights.
 

Bragr

Banned
It's too hard to pull off. Maybe they could do standard Warhammer, but 40K is too much, there is no way they gonna nail the brooding evil genocidal universe of 40K with the scale it needs to be at.

40K should not be a live-action movie or TV series. Animated would work, but that's it. We don't need Hollywood to make this into a joke. They got superheroes for that.
 

Gaelyon

Member
I wonder if they'll cast him as a banshee aeldari or a primaris ultramarine...

Honestly he'll be great as an ordo xenos inquisitori.
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
It's too hard to pull off. Maybe they could do standard Warhammer, but 40K is too much, there is no way they gonna nail the brooding evil genocidal universe of 40K with the scale it needs to be at.

40K should not be a live-action movie or TV series. Animated would work, but that's it. We don't need Hollywood to make this into a joke. They got superheroes for that.

Conversation with studio executives:

Exec: "So! Who are the good guys?"

Henry: "There aren't any."

Exec: "But the humans must be the heroes!"

Henry: "Nope. Ultra religious fascists the fucking lot of 'em. "

Exec: "So the aliens are the good guys?"

Henry: "Nope. All cunts as well."

Exec: "can this be done on a small budget?"

Henry: "Nope. Biggest wars imaginable. Billions of dollars to make. No fucking heroes. Grim darkness. Religious intolerance. Demonic horrors. Humanity is fucked."

Exec: "Please leave."
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
Oh why Amazon why why why... This Show deserves better. Cavill at the end of the day is an actor, not an experienced producer, director or showrunner. This needs mayor talent behind it, people with a spine to respect the source material.

Ill be expecting a YA kind of show set in the universe :(
 

Holammer

Member
I'm a little bit worried, because it means GW will be under even more current day politics pressure to file down sharp corners.
In a universe where Xenocide is a thing and considered good (by the Imperium anyway), you just know there's gonna have to be a lot of adjustments.

If they don't get bogged down by writers that actively hate the setting and try to subvert expectations instead, they should make a few movies to get people used to the setting.
Then do a 30k series with Cavill as the Emperor of Mankind. If it goes well, spin-off mini series or movies with the origin stories of the Primarchs. There's a smörgåsbord of source material to work with and forge a cinematic universe.

Done right it would crush GoT under its mighty heel.
 

hinch7

Member
Conversation with studio executives:

Exec: "So! Who are the good guys?"

Henry: "There aren't any."

Exec: "But the humans must be the heroes!"

Henry: "Nope. Ultra religious fascists the fucking lot of 'em. "

Exec: "So the aliens are the good guys?"

Henry: "Nope. All cunts as well."

Exec: "can this be done on a small budget?"

Henry: "Nope. Biggest wars imaginable. Billions of dollars to make. No fucking heroes. Grim darkness. Religious intolerance. Demonic horrors. Humanity is fucked."

Exec: "Please leave."
Ngl I would watch this.

Hopefully its not an Ultramarines story.
 


OoOooooh shit!!!!!!

This means that this might actually be good!!!!

WH40K live-action and by leads who know their shit.... dream come true!!!!

I really really hope they begin with the Horus Heresy. I fucking lived off those books for most of my young adult life. Such an incredibly creative and enthralling series.
 
Last edited:

MiguelItUp

Member
I HOPE that it'll be amazing. I've always imagined a 40K film or series done very well, and absolutely loved the idea of it. Didn't think something like this would suddenly come up. I'm hoping it all works out.
 

ManaByte

Banned
Oh why Amazon why why why... This Show deserves better. Cavill at the end of the day is an actor, not an experienced producer, director or showrunner. This needs mayor talent behind it, people with a spine to respect the source material.

Ill be expecting a YA kind of show set in the universe :(

Cavill is probably the only active person in Hollywood who plays 40K and paints his own miniatures.
 

SScorpio

Member
It's too hard to pull off. Maybe they could do standard Warhammer, but 40K is too much, there is no way they gonna nail the brooding evil genocidal universe of 40K with the scale it needs to be at.

40K should not be a live-action movie or TV series. Animated would work, but that's it. We don't need Hollywood to make this into a joke. They got superheroes for that.
It doesn't need to be universe level having massive battles between multiple factions. Keep it local on a units' action during a campaign, have character growth and arcs. Something like the Geonosis campaign in the Star Wars Clone Wars TV series.

There was already the 40K movie Ultramarine that was a 3D CGI animated movie, that bombed and released as direct to DVD back in 2010. Amazon carried on the torch with the Expanse, as well as having The Boys, animated Invincible. Rings of Power was a failure, but they also have good content.
 

Trogdor1123

Gold Member
This is incredible. Love the universe. Wonder who he would be? An Astarte? An inquisitor? Guardsman? We need more info!

im guessing post Heresy?
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
Cavill is probably the only active person in Hollywood who plays 40K and paints his own miniatures.
That will not be enough I fear.
Amazon will shove a group of diverse human beings into the show, who are shining beacons of humanity, representing 202x values. Cavill will not be able to rally against these demands.

I would bet money on the show not sticking to the depressed, everything and everyone is fucked, setting of 40k.
Would love to be wrong about this... Basically, I would love a "Astartes" style show.
 

jaysius

Banned
Dude got canned for Superman now he gets to play as an orc.
He had a meeting with that clown hack writer James Gunn and some other guy, then I guess that didn't go so well when Gunn told them how fucking stupid Superman would be now.

Gunn made Guardians of the Galaxy 1, one of my favorite movies, but then he made the sequel absolute made for tv feeling horseshit. Then he made a decent Suicide Squad movie, but then he made a fucking awful Peace Maker show... fuck this guy overall. He's good for certain things, but putting him in charge of an entire movie series is a huge mistake.
 
That will not be enough I fear.
Amazon will shove a group of diverse human beings into the show, who are shining beacons of humanity, representing 202x values. Cavill will not be able to rally against these demands.

I would bet money on the show not sticking to the depressed, everything and everyone is fucked, setting of 40k.
Would love to be wrong about this... Basically, I would love a "Astartes" style show.
Amazon has produced quality shows. They've also produced trash. For the most part, you could see the dumpster fire shows coming a mile away because of the people involved and the marketing.

The news surrounding this show, albeit very limited, is nothing but promising so far. I understand not wanting to get your hopes up, but this is literally the BEST situation Warhammer 40k fans could hope for. I don't see how anyone can find negativity about this news unless you straight up don't want to see Warhammer 40k ever made in live action. It will never have a better shot than this.
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
You've never seen Reacher or The Boys have you.
Reacher is the lowest of low budget show Amazon could finance and the Boys shtick is to be abrasive in just the Deadpool way.
I don't think you could compare the two with 40k, and its investment needed for it.
LotR is a way more apt comparison, and that show is brain dead bad.
 

LordCBH

Member
Reacher is the lowest of low budget show Amazon could finance and the Boys shtick is to be abrasive in just the Deadpool way.
I don't think you could compare the two with 40k, and its investment needed for it.
LotR is a way more apt comparison, and that show is brain dead bad.

To be fair, they hired unqualified bums who had never actually made anything to create rings of power. I will have hope 40k with HC attached until I see it follow the same path.
 

Garibaldi

Member
I'd be surprised if they initially set the scope to be anywhere near the galactic level of shit that is full 40k.

Plenty of source material from the Black Library that could be used to tell the smaller stories.

I've just finished up Valdor. It could be good. Exploring the end of the unifications wars and Amar Astartes attempted coup to halt the start of the Space Marine programme.
 
Last edited:

RiccochetJ

Gold Member
Wonder where they could even remotely begin to introduce people to the universe because of just how vast it is with stories and lore. Also wonder if even Amazon has the budget to tackle the Horus Heresy but dammit I want to see that realized.
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
I know it's not real canon.

But fucking hell if Cavill can convince them to design & write a show that apes the amazingness of this then I'm all in:



Astartes absolutely IS canon now. It's been made official GW media. The Retributor Astartes in the film are descendents of the Imperial Fists.

That's the joy of 40k. It's so enormous,with so many different factions, set across so much time and space, it can all be canon.
 
Last edited:

Tams

Gold Member
Considering Amazon are ploughing ahead with The Boys and Invincible, I reckon they may be the best placed to even somewhat create the 40k world well. They could also do with a few more shows that really make them stand out.

Yes, they have their diversity quota shite like WoT and RoP, with their inclusiveness and social justice rubbish. And yes, The Boys did touch on the latter a bit. But they know brutal and how to do it.
 
Top Bottom