Warhammer 40k Animated Series Confirmed at Prime Video, And It Will Continue a Story Fans Already Know

As the most popular miniature war game in the world, Warhammer 40k is a potential goldmine for whoever can adapt it well. What was once just a tabletop game has ballooned into a multimedia media franchise that only seems to be growing. In fact, a fan-favorite Warhammer video game narrowly dodged cancellation just last month, proving that even the fraught state of the game industry couldn’t beat the demand for new content. Perhaps even more testament to its popularity, though, is the live-action, Henry Cavill-led Warhammer TV adaptation confirmed to be in development over at Prime Video. Yet another sign of the franchise’s relentless growth is the revelation that Prime Video is officially making a Warhammer 40k animated series, and they’re using an already-released anthology series as a springboard.

Per Variety‘s exclusive report, the animated series, billed as an event series, will function as a spinoff to the Warhammer episode of Prime Video’s Secret Level anthology. Secret Level supervising director Dave Wilson and Band of Brothers screenwriter John Orloff will develop the new animated series, while famously avid gamer Henry Cavill and Secret Level creator Tim Miller will be among its executive producers. Cavill is still set to lead Prime Video’s live-action Warhammer series, which will enter production around the same time as its cartoon counterpart.

Wilson also revealed that adapting Warhammer has been a dream of his for over twenty years, and that “Secret Level” wasn’t an anthology, but “a launchpad for larger stories.”

“The response to the ‘Warhammer’ episode [of ‘Secret Level’] was extraordinary, particularly from fans who understood how much care went into getting the world right,” Wilson said. “This series gives us the opportunity to build on that foundation and tell a much larger story.”

The animated series joins a growing number of gaming properties Prime is adapting for TV, which currently include a live-action God of War series and the ongoing Fallout adaptation starring Ella Purnell, Kyle MacLachlan, and Walton Goggins. Amazon MGM Studios and Games Workshop are developing the Warhammer 40k animated series together.

Animated Warhammer 40k Series Will Spotlight The Deathwatch

We still don’t know what the animated Warhammer 40k series will be about, but after today’s announcement, we have confirmation that famed Space Marine group The Deathwatch will factor into the story somehow. No other details have been released, so we’ll have to wait and see how Wilson and co. incorporate these elite fighters into their narrative. Given the heightened cool factor here, fans are almost certainly in for a treat.

The Secret Level episode the series is spinning out of was extremely popular with fans, its seamless storytelling and obvious respect for the lore making it a high point in a show that was otherwise middling at best. Secret Level wasn’t quite the critical darling its creators undoubtedly hoped it would be, but the aforementioned episode, titled “Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear,” resonated deeply with audiences. Lukewarm reception aside, the series has been renewed for a second season.

Wilson and Orloff are clearly passionate about the potential of a Warhammer 40k animated series, so regardless of its quality, it will have been made with appropriate reverence for the source material. Orloff’s experience writing Band of Brothers will also prove an asset, adding some necessary depth and grittiness to the franchise’s far-future military setting. Add that to the sheer ambitiousness of the material, and you’ve got a show that will be nothing if not interesting.

We may have next to nothing in the way of casting or release date news, but the caliber of the people making it, coupled with their dedication to honoring a world many hold sacred, spell good news for this animated adaptation, as well as for the rest of the Warhammer franchise.