Mike Flanagan Teases an Unexpected Way Into Warhammer 40,000 for Amazon
The Emperor protects. The NDA protects more.
Mike Flanagan has finally said a little more about his Warhammer 40,000 series for Prime Video. Talking to Deadline, the horror director said he found "a very cool and unexpected on-ramp" into the giant sci-fi universe (IGN).
That's about all he could share, though. "Henry Cavill would be furious if I divulged anything about what we're working on," Flanagan said.
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What did Mike Flanagan say about Warhammer 40,000?
He admitted that the hardest part is picking where to start. "The challenge, as anyone familiar with it knows, is finding a way in. It's so big," he said. He pointed out there are around 700 novels, and that's before you count the tabletop game and everything else.
Still, he sounds really excited about it. "I'm sworn to secrecy on all of it, but I'm having the time of my life working on it," he said.
Is Henry Cavill still in the Warhammer show?
Yes, Cavill is still set to star and executive produce. Amazon and Games Workshop first announced the deal back in December 2022, and it's meant to kick off a whole Warhammer 40,000 universe on Prime Video. We still don't know which character Cavill will play.
Flanagan has a multi-year deal with Amazon. His first show under it was a new take on Stephen King's Carrie, which already has a second season on the way.
What could the "unexpected on-ramp" be?
Nobody knows yet, but fans already have theories, and IGN's Wesley Yin-Poole thinks Flanagan is adapting Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn books, with Cavill as the Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn. Those stories follow regular humans hunting heretics across the galaxy, and Space Marines only show up now and then.
My read is that Eisenhorn would be a perfect fit. Flanagan is at his best with slow-burn dread and characters who carry heavy secrets, and an Inquisitor's case files are basically a horror show set in space. Most casual fans know Warhammer from Space Marine 2, so a story about a lone investigator would be the surprise he's hinting at. (If it's a Space Marine show after all, we won't complain either.)
If you want to get ahead of the theory, the Eisenhorn omnibus is a great place to start.
What Warhammer story do you want Flanagan to adapt? Tell us in the comments.
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Header image and in-article image are official screenshots from Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, from Saber Interactive, Focus Entertainment and Games Workshop.
