Forget The Witcher and Superman: Henry Cavill leads the Warhammer 40K dream project

Amazon has signed a deal with Games Workshop to acquire the intellectual property rights that will allow the tech and media giant to make films, TV series and other content based on the popular Warhammer 40K franchise.

Warhammer 40K has been one of the most popular properties among gamers and others for nearly 40 years. It started as a tabletop game but has also spawned several popular video games and books over the years.

This news might be interesting enough on its own, but fans of the series might also be interested to know that Henry Cavill – the actor who played Geralt in Netflix’s the magician series and Superman in Zack Snyder’s DC superhero films, among others – attached to the project as actor and executive producer.

Cavill posted a brief teaser on Instagram announcing his engagement:

For 30 years I’ve been dreaming of seeing the Warhammer universe in live action. Now, after 22 years of experience in the industry, I finally feel like I have the skillset and experience to bring the Warhammer cinematic universe to life. The partnership with Natalie Viscuso at Vertigo has been a blessing beyond words, without her we would not have been able to find the perfect home on Amazon. And owning a home like Amazon would give us the freedom to be true to the sheer scope of Warhammer. To all the Warhammer fans out there, I promise to respect the IP we love. I promise to bring you something familiar. And I’m trying to give you something amazing that you haven’t seen so far.

Our first steps are to find the director/creator/writer. Watch this space, my friends.

For the Emperor!

There have been a lot of lackluster adaptations of geeky intellectual properties lately, including Amazon’s the Lord of the Rings And the The wheel of time. But Cavill’s intervention could help ease fan concerns, given that Cavill is a dedicated Warhammer 40K geek who has often talked about drawing characters and other Warhammer-related activities in interviews.

Cavill recently stepped down from the role of Geralt in the magician– to replace him hunger Games’ Liam Hemsworth. His run as Superman has also come to an end, according to a recent announcement from DC Studios co-president James Gunn.

Warhammer 40K is set in the very distant future (40K roughly refers to the years in which it takes place) and this is similar in some ways to what historians used to refer to as the Dark Ages in Europe. The franchise is the definition of “bleak”, painting a picture of a universe in which billions toil to serve the God Emperor and a vast and brutal war.

The universe is much more vast than its politics, with countless threats to humanity, including Starship TroopersLike hordes of insects and alien tumors, among other creatures.

It’s not yet known which part of this vast universe and its sprawling timeline across millennia the Amazon series will take place in, but it’s possible Amazon acquired the rights due to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s franchise and potential.