What just happened? It's been almost two years since we heard that Henry Cavill was set to star in and executive produce a TV series adaptation of Warhammer 40,000 for Amazon. There's been little news since then, but it's now been revealed that the show is in development after Games Workshop and Amazon agreed on creative guidelines and exclusive rights.
According to Deadline's sources, a mini-room was assembled to hone in on a creative direction for the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Based on material that the writers produced, it was decided to proceed with the development of a TV series for the first Warhammer Amazon project. No showrunner has been picked as of yet.
The deal also included associated merchandising rights for any film or television show produced by Amazon.
Cavill celebrated the news with an Instagram post.
Being at such an early stage of development means we'll likely be waiting several years before a Warhammer 40,000 series comes to Amazon. The company will no doubt be hoping the show can replicate the success of its hugely popular Fallout series.
Few people are more suitable than Cavill for turning Warhammer 40K into a big-budget show. The Witcher star partnered with Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee and Natalie Viscuso to secure the IP before taking it to Amazon.
Cavill's nerd credentials are well documented. He often posts and talks about his love of the tabletop games and painting miniatures. Cavill once appeared on the UK's The Graham Norton Show to explain that Warhammer isn't the same as World of Warcraft. The British actor also famously completed Total War: Warhammer 2 six times, as six different races, and likes to build his own PCs.
Warhammer fandom is at a high right now. The 13-year wait for a sequel to Space Marine turned out to be worth it when the excellent Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 arrived in September. It earned a deserved spot on our Best PC Games (You Should Be Playing) list.
It's all good news for Games Workshop. The UK firm, now the 85th biggest listed company in the country, just saw its licensing revenue increased by 150% to $38.2 million.