Horror specialist Mike Flanagan has issued an update on his hotly anticipated live-action Warhammer 40,000 TV series, teasing something “unexpected” for fans.
Flanagan has only ever spoken in vague terms about the Warhammer project, dancing around the details while out and about promoting his Prime Video series, Carrie. Last month, he discussed the challenges of adapting Games Workshop’s long-running and complex Warhammer 40,000 universe into a TV show, calling it “brutally difficult.” And in a new interview with Deadline, he said much the same, although did give fans something new to chew on.
Flanagan, writer, director, and showrunner of a number of much-loved Netflix horror TV shows including The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and The Fall of the House of Usher, said: “Henry Cavill would be furious if I divulged anything about what we’re working on. All I can say is that Warhammer is a fascinating world. The challenge, as anyone familiar with it knows, is finding a way in — it’s so big. There are 700 novels, discounting the [table top] game, the interactive elements and so much of the rest of the lore.”
Despite this challenge, Flanagan insisted he had found “a very cool and unexpected on-ramp into it, which I think is very exciting. I’m sworn to secrecy on all of it, but I’m having the time of my life working on it.”
I’ll get into what this “very cool and unexpected on-ramp” might be below, but for now, some background: Flanagan has signed a multi-year deal with Amazon to develop and produce original series for the studio, the first of which was his adaptation of Stephen King’s horror classic, Carrie. While Carrie Season 2 is confirmed, Flanagan is also working on Warhammer 40,000, which will be part of Henry Cavill’s Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Universe. The former Superman actor is set to star in the show, although we don’t know which character he will play.
So, what could Flanagan be talking about here? Well, I doubt he’s making a Trazyn the Infinite and Orikan the Diviner sitcom, let’s put it that way. I’ve said before that I think Flanagan will adapt Dan Abnett’s wonderful Eisenhorn series and that Cavill will play Eisenhorn himself, and I’m sticking to my guns.
An Eisenhorn adaptation would, theoretically at least, be tighter in scope than some of the grander Warhammer 40,000 stories, and help keep production manageable. The Eisenhorn Omnibus series does feature Space Marines, but they only make brief and rare appearances. The story focuses heavily on Gregor Eisenhorn and regular humans rather than the giant genetically enhanced warriors.
And I think Eisenhorn would probably fit the bill as something “very cool and unexpected” in terms of an “on-ramp” into the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Because while hardcore fans like me wouldn’t be surprised to see Eisenhorn on Prime Video, your average Warhammer 40,000 fan — or, perhaps put more accurately, your average Space Marine fan — would expect to see Space Marines knocking lumps out of each other. For casual fans who have perhaps played Space Marine 2 or watched the superb Warhammer 40,000 Secret Level animated episode and not delved deeper into the lore, a show about an Inquisitor would be quite “unexpected.”
All the way back in December 2022 (yes, it’s been nearly four years since Games Workshop and Amazon announced their intention to work together), Cavill was said to be “bringing his lore expertise to the mantle of Executive Producer, and his sword arm to the starring role.”
“I have loved Warhammer since I was a boy, making this moment truly special for me. The opportunity to shepherd this cinematic universe from its inception is quite the honour and the responsibility,” Cavill said at the time. “I couldn’t be more grateful for all the hard work put in by Vertigo, Amazon and Games Workshop to make this happen. One step closer to making a nigh-on lifelong dream come true.”
