Henry Cavill to Star in and Produce Warhammer 40,000 Series
Henry Cavill may be hanging up his cape, but he’s picking up a chainsword. Yesterday, in the wake of being let go from his promised role as Superman and a month and a half after word broke that he’d be leaving The Witcher, it was revealed that Cavill will star in and executive produce a Warhammer 40,000 adaptation. The project will be a series for Amazon, which has just won the rights to the game adaptation. Cavill nabbed the rights to Warhammer 40,000 with Vertigo Entertainment, which will also executive produce, as will Andy Smillie and Max Bottrill of Games Workshop, the company that makes the tabletop wargame. No one else is attached yet. Cavill made a statement on his Instagram account, which you can read below:
“For 30 years I have dreamt of seeing a Warhammer universe in live action. Now, after 22 years of experience in this industry, I finally feel that I have the skill set and experience to guide a Warhammer Cinematic Universe into life. Partnering with Natalie Viscuso at Vertigo has been a blessing beyond words, without her we might not have found the perfect home at Amazon. And having a home like Amazon will give us the freedom to be true to the massive scope of Warhammer. 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.
Our first steps are to find our Filmmaker/Creator/Writer. Watch this space, my friends.
For The Emperor!”
Well, I’m certainly glad Cavill is attached to something else, especially something so close to his heart. In various videos and interview clips, like those in the compilation above, Cavill proclaimed himself a fan of Warhammer 40,000. And given his response to the sinking of The Witcher by Netflix and his desire to see a traditional Superman in the DC movies (even if he doesn’t get to play him), Cavill has enough goodwill to get fans of the game to tune in based on his involvement. Letting people know how passionate he is about various IPs may have been the smartest career move Cavill has ever made – next to defending fans from smug Hollywood and media types labeling them “toxic” if they do anything but mindlessly consume. As happy as I am for him, though, I can’t be the only one – Cavill included, I suspect – who’s just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It seems like Cavill has a decent amount of creative control, but he’s been burned so many times that the fear it’ll happen again must claw at the back of his mind.
