Henry Cavill may look like Superman, but the man has never hidden the fact that actually he’s a big old nerd. He loves science-fiction and fantasy stuff as much as anybody. It’s one of the things that led him to star in The Witcher series (which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription), and that got him to get involved in a streaming adaptation of Warhammer 40K, one of Cavill’s passions. Unfortunately, things are starting to look dicey for the planned Warhammer adaptation at Amazon, and now I’m worried Cavill won’t get a chance to make the series he dreamed of, again.
It’s a nearly universal truth that when people are doing work they are personally invested in, the work turns out better. So it was awesome news for fans of Warhammer that a new project was happening at Amazon and that Henry Cavill, a very public Warhammer fan, was going to be involved. It was especially cool as a fan of Cavill, that after The Witcher, he was going to get a chance to make something he really cared about, but that chance is running out.
Amazon And Warhammer’s Owner Only Have Until The End Of The Year To Get The Project Moving
It was announced back in December 2023 that dad-to-be Henry Cavill was set to star in and produce a new series for Amazon based on Warhammer 40,000, the tabletop game of space marines that usually involves lots of handpainted miniatures, something Cavill has been very public about his love for. Cavill's girlfriend Natalie Viscuso is also involved in the Warhammer project, so this one is a family affair.
However, in Games Workshop’s annual financial report (via IGN) it is stated that while discussions with Amazon regarding the new series are ongoing, the deal has a clock on it, and if “creative guidelines” for the new series are not agreed to by both groups by the end of December 2024, Amazon will lose the rights and the project won’t happen.
Since we’re now more than halfway through the period, and those guidelines are still being worked on, it’s not the best news in the world for anybody looking forward to the Warhammer 40K series. There’s still plenty of time left for the two sides to reach an agreement, and I certainly hope they do, because if not this will be the second time that Henry Cavil has hit a wall when it comes to turning something he loves into a TV series.
Henry Cavill Left The Witcher Due To “Creative” Problems As Well
The Witcher is set to run for two more seasons on Netflix, but the series will do so with an entirely new lead actor. Liam Hemsworth is set to take over the role from Henry Cavill. While little has been said officially about the reason Cavill decided to leave, reports have indicated that he was never really happy with the creative direction of the show, which diverged in significant ways from the books that inspired it.
Ultimately, it seems Henry Cavill may have had issues with the creative direction of The Witcher and decided that the best thing for him was to leave. It would be unfortunate if a lack of ability to decide on the creative direction for Warhammer 40K resulted in the show not happening.
I'm not a massive Warhammer fan, but I am a fan of Cavill, and I'm also a fan of people getting to do things they love. I hope Warhammer happens, and it happens just the way Henry Cavill wants.
On the plus side, Henry Cavill likely wants to create a very faithful adaptation of Warhammer 40K, and Games Workshop probably wants the same thing, so there’s still a good chance the two sides could reach an agreement. It’s hard to imagine anybody other than Henry Cavill would be a better fit for the series.
