UPDATE 8/4: Henry Cavill has now confirmed it all himself, posting a statement to Instagram hours after this story broke. He frames the project as the newest Secret Level animation devoting a whole season to Warhammer 40,000, calls Dave Wilson the lead on it, and drops the bigger bomb: he will still star in the live-action series, though his character remains a secret. The original article continues below.
Last week, the question was whether Henry Cavill’s Warhammer 40,000 series was even still happening. Now the man has two of them.
Variety exclusively reports that a Warhammer 40,000 animated event series is officially in development at Amazon MGM Studios alongside Blur Studios and Games Workshop, with Cavill executive producing. Deadline quickly matched the report.
The project is a spinoff of Secret Level, the Prime Video animated anthology whose Warhammer 40,000 episode debuted in late 2024, and it is being developed alongside Cavill’s live-action series.
The Creative Team
Dave Wilson, who directed Secret Level‘s Warhammer episode and served as the show’s supervising director, is co-creator and director. He is developing the series with Masters of the Air and Band of Brothers scribe John Orloff.
Secret Level creator Tim Miller executive produces for Blur Studios alongside Wilson, with Cavill and Natalie Viscuso also executive producing. Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee EPs with Andy Smillie from Games Workshop.
Plot details are under wraps beyond the focus: The Deathwatch, the elite group of Space Marines that specializes in hunting down alien threats.
Wilson said the fan response to the Warhammer episode was “extraordinary” and revealed he has wanted to tell a long-form story in the 40,000 universe for more than twenty years, describing Secret Level as a springboard built for bigger stories.
Smart bet, too. The Warhammer episode remains the highest-rated episode of Secret Level on IMDb.
Warhammer’s Big Week at Amazon
The announcement caps a stretch that started with last week’s Games Workshop annual report, which revealed Mike Flanagan boarded the live-action series with story outlines complete and scripts next.
That report also teased the Deathwatch animated project with Orloff attached, and now the full package is official with Cavill, Wilson, Miller, and Blur aboard.
Games Workshop has warned these adaptations will take years to reach the market, and that caution is aimed squarely at the live-action show. Animation moves faster.
Don’t be surprised if Deathwatch ends up as the first real proof of concept for Amazon’s Warhammer universe, arriving well before Cavill ever suits up in live action.
Amazon Goes All-In on Game Adaptations
The Deathwatch series also extends Amazon’s aggressive push into game IP. Fallout is already a hit, a Tomb Raider series starring Sophie Turner is in the works, and a God of War show is hunting for a new Kratos following Ryan Hurst’s on-set injury.
Life Is Strange recently began production, with Mass Effect and Wolfenstein adaptations also in development.
Warhammer now gives Amazon two more shots on goal, and the franchise keeps expanding elsewhere too, following this year’s Helldivers 2 crossover.
As for Cavill, executive producer credits on both series mean the Warhammer universe is being built the way he always said he wanted, with him at the tiller.
For the fandom that spent months writing obituaries, that’s two resurrections in a week.
