Henry Cavill's Warhammer 40,000 cinematic universe is now 'properly rolling' as Games Workshop finalizes deal with Amazon Studios

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 28: Henry Cavill attends "The Witcher" Season 3 UK Premiere at The Now Building at Outernet London on June 28, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2022 did not end particularly well for our favorite hunk of burning PC gamer Henry Cavill. After leaving The Witcher to return to the big screen as DC's top-dog superhero, the Superman project fell apart, his old job was gone, and he was very suddenly looking for something to do. But there was one bright spot: After all of the above had unfolded, Games Workshop confirmed that Cavill was set to head up, and star in, a Warhammer 40,000 "cinematic universe."

In case you'd forgotten, Cavill is a big 40K fan. He spent time in Covid quarantine painting Warhammer miniatures; he talked about it during Netflix's WitcherCon in 2021; he once interrupted an interview to explain the difference between Warcraft and Warhammer; he even had a cameo of sorts in the Total War: Warhammer 2 DLC The Warden and the Paunch. It's fair to say that his fandom is deep and legitimate.

We haven't heard much about Henry's post-Witcher doings since the Warhammer project was announced, but progress is being made. Games Workshop announced today that the "full agreement" with Amazon Studios has been signed, and now it's time to move on to the next part: Specifically, "working out all the creative details with our partners and getting the first script written and into production."

"What Warhammer 40,000 stories should we tell first?" Games Workshop wrote in a blog post. "Should we kick off with a movie or a TV show? Both?!

"All we can tell you right now is that an elite band of screenwriters, each with their own particular passion for Warhammer, is being assembled to help bring the setting and characters you love to the screen. This illustrious group will be championed by Henry Cavill, who stands ready to take his place as executive producer—bringing his pen, sword and/or spear to the project."

There's still no word on who Henry will portray in the Warhammer cinematic universe. In a 2021 interview with IGN he said "there are a lot of characters from the Warhammer universe" he wants to be, but he can only be one so he's being careful about where he jumps in. He said it would be "exciting" to portray Gregor Eisenhorn, a controversial Inquisitor and protagonist of 40K's Eisenhorn trilogy, "but then I burn Primarchs and the Captain-Generals, so I don't really know."

And there's still likely to be a long wait before we see anything concrete from the Warhammer 40,000 cinematic universe. "TV and Film production is a mammoth undertaking," Games Workshop warned. "It’s not unusual for projects to take two to three years from this point before something arrives on screen. Still, things are now properly rolling, and you can bet we’ll bring you all the latest updates and cool snippets as soon as we’re able."

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.