Amazon MGM Studios is developing an animated event series based on Warhammer 40,000, with Henry Cavill set to executive produce the project. Cavill is already attached to star in and executive produce the upcoming live-action Warhammer 40,000 series for the studio, expanding his involvement across both formats in the grimdark universe.
Deadline reports that the animated series comes from Amazon MGM Studios, Blur Studios, and Games Workshop as a spinoff of the adult animated anthology Secret Level. The project is co-created and directed by Dave Wilson, who previously directed the Warhammer 40,000 episode of Secret Level. John Orloff, known for his work on Masters of the Air, serves as co-creator alongside Wilson. Early details indicate the story will center on the Deathwatch, an elite force of Space Marines specializing in hunting down and eliminating alien threats across the Imperium.
Warhammer 40,000 unfolds in a distant future where humanity’s vast interstellar empire teeters between potential triumph and total collapse. The setting is defined by constant warfare against traitors, xenos empires, and the corrupting influence of malevolent gods that warp reality itself. The animated series will explore this unforgiving universe through the lens of the Deathwatch’s specialized campaigns, offering a focused look at one of the franchise’s most dedicated fighting forces.
Amazon secured the global rights to Warhammer 40,000 from Games Workshop in 2022, covering film, television, and related merchandising. That deal has already paved the way for the live-action series and now supports this additional animated expansion. Development is proceeding in partnership between Amazon MGM Studios and Games Workshop, with Blur Studios handling the animation side of production.
The creative team behind the Deathwatch animated series brings substantial experience translating large-scale military stories and intense game-inspired worlds to the screen. Orloff, recognized for his character-focused writing on war dramas such as Band of Brothers and Masters of the Air, is writing the script. Miller, creator of the Secret Level anthology and director of Deadpool, will executive produce for Blur Studios together with Wilson. Cavill and Natalie Viscuso are also executive producing, joined by Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment and Andy Smillie of Games Workshop.
Secret Level’s Warhammer 40,000 episode, titled And They Shall Know No Fear, earned strong praise for its striking animation, precise tone, and faithful portrayal of Space Marine warfare when it aired in late 2024. That positive response helped open the door for this larger Deathwatch spin-off, which builds directly on the foundation established in the anthology and expands the animated presence of the Warhammer 40,000 universe on the platform.
