Amazon has secured the rights to Warhammer 40k, fulfilling a heartfelt wish of Henry Cavill, who is on board as a producer and actor.
Fans just had to digest the shock news that Henry Cavill’s time as Superman in the DC Universe (DCU) is over after he first announced his return. The 39-year-old recently left the Netflix hit series The Witcher. Leaving two major franchises in a very short space of time is a rarity, even for busy Hollywood stars. While Cavill must have been surprised by the DCU exit himself, his departure from The Witcher was, at least for him – and Netflix – a long time in the foreseeable future.
Someone like Cavill never leaves a successful production without a plan B. Sure, the Brit has never hidden the fact that he has a firm vision of how author Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels should be implemented; and as faithfully as possible. He promised to keep his commitment to fans as long as the Netflix series stayed true to the original.
Even the first season deviated from Sapkowski’s work in some points, with season 2 by showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich it was completely gone. And with it Cavill’s devotion. However, in “The Witcher” he was only an actor, could only argue with his knowledge and ultimately threatened his exit, which was obviously not taken seriously. Who would please leave a mega series that has given it a surge in popularity par excellence and can still do so?
Fans have speculated that Cavill’s “The Witcher” exit must have something to do with Superman. In truth, as it has now turned out, an entirely different universe was one of the reasons. Because such a development does not happen within a few hours, but has to flourish over weeks, if not months.
After initially being unconfirmed news, Amazon Studios and Henry Cavill have now officially announced: Henry Cavill will be producing and starring in the adaptation of the popular Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game, also known as Warhammer 40k. by Games Workshop (GAW), as the company has announced in a press release. The agreement allows Amazon to locate films, series and much more within this universe. In this scenario, video games like the recently released “Warhammer 40,000: Darktide” would also be conceivable.
Via Instagram, Cavill, who is himself a huge fan of both the “fantasy” and “40k” variants of the “Warhammer” universe, has promised to stay true to the template (what a dig!):
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Amazon needs a guaranteed hit after The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
For Henry Cavill, it’s fulfilling his geek wishes and realizing one dream project after the failure of another. For Amazon, on the other hand, a possible Warhammer Cinematic Universe (WCU) could make us forget the wasted potential of the mega-series “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”. Nobody says it, but it should be clear that the outrageously expensive production, the first season is said to have swallowed up well over 500 million US dollars, could not meet the expectations of fans or the company. Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios and MGM Studios, is optimistic about this new project:
“Warhammer 40,000 has captured the imagination of fans of all ages, walks of life, and around the world. We look forward to working with Henry [Cavill], Vertigo Entertainment and Games Workshop across our Amazon entertainment platforms on this brilliant, immersive franchise for years to come for our customers worldwide.”
With Cavill as producer, one can also hope that, in contrast to “Rings of Power”, the film will not deviate too far from the original. The popular actor would hardly want to have such an experience a second time.
