Fresh off his shock Superman exit, Henry Cavill‘s career has taken another surprising turn this week, although this time thankfully for the better. The former Witcher star has announced that he’s heading up a Warhammer 40K TV series for Amazon Prime Video, which he will both executive produce and star in. While half of the internet gets to grips with the ins and outs of the Warhammer universe, the other half is furiously theorizing over which character Cavill could end up playing in the show.
Other than Cavill’s involvement and its title, little is known about this Warhammer 40K series, which is no doubt being viewed as just the first chapter in what could be Amazon’s next milestone fantasy franchise, following on from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. With the Warhammer universe arguably being even more expansive than Tolkein’s legendarium, there are countless options for Cavill’s potential role in the series. Here are just a few of the biggest fan-favorites.
Gregor Eisenhorn
Ask Warhammer fans and they’ll tell you there’s a good chance that Cavill will be playing an Inquisitor in the Amazon series. In the Warhammer 40K universe, Inquisitors are the secret policemen and intelligence agents of the Imperium, somewhat like spies crossed with Knights Templar, as they are descended from an ancient order dedicated to wiping out the daemonic agents of Chaos.
And if Cavill was to play a recognizable Inquisitor from the canon, then the most obvious option would be Gregor Eisenhorn, a hugely popular character within the lore. As featured in the novel series by Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy), Eisenhorn is a brutal yet multi-layered character that we can easily see Cavill embodying perfectly, especially after his taciturn take on Geralt of Rivia.
Ciaphas Cain
On the other hand, another great choice for Cavill in the Warhammer 40K show is Ciaphas Cain, who you might generously describe as this universe’s grimdark answer to Captain America. As an officer of the Astra Militarum — the Imperium’s primary combat force that comes up against the deadliest threats in the galaxy — Cain served on the frontlines for years, even coming out of retirement to battle the Chaos Lord Abaddon the Despoiler at the age of 200.
Despite being hailed as a great hero, however, Cain is really more of a born survivor who was simply fighting for his own existence in his various scrapes, although he still possesses his own code of honor of sorts, as he would rarely sacrifice his own men unlike many of his fellow Imperial commissars. Cain could be another perfect lone-wolf anti-hero for Cavill to play.
Sanguinius
Another avenue for Cavill’s role could see him play a Primarch instead. In the Warhammer 40K lore, Primarchs are the 20 genetically-engineered “sons” of the Emperor of Mankind (more on Him in a moment) from which the different Space Marine Legions are descended. Perhaps the most notable of the Primarchs is Sanguinius, the Primarch of the Blood Angels Legion.
Immortal and possessing superhuman power, Sanguinius is a legendary hero cut from the cloth of ancient Greek myths, much like Superman in many ways, who is best known for his grand battle against the Arch-heretic Horus that spelled his doom. However, his sacrifice wasn’t for nothing as he successfully exposed Horus’ weakness, which the Emperor exploited to destroy him.
Gavriel Loken
Elsewhere, Gavriel Loken is another legendary Imperial hero that Cavill could have the stuff to bring to life. The popular Horus Heresy storyline is something fans would love to see brought to the screen, so that seems like a given. It just depends on how Cavill will fit into the adaptation of the epic tale. Loken could be a brilliant fit for him, however.
The one-time captain of the Luna Wolves, Loken is known as one of the Emperor’s most loyal soldiers, as he did not switch sides after Horus’ fall to Chaos and instead joined the Loyalist faction to fight for the Emperor against the Ruinous Powers. In this capacity, he faced off against his evil brother Abaddon (yes, him again). After his supposed death, the half-crazed Loken was later discovered to have taken on the alternate persona Cerberus, although he was later restored to himself. Basically, there’s a heck of a lot of material to mine here.
The Emperor of Mankind
Undoubtedly, the ultimate role that Cavill could hire himself to play in the Warhammer 40K universe would be the Emperor of Mankind, the character the whole lore revolves around. As well as being the ruler of the Imperium of Man, the Emperor is also worshipped as a deity, viewed as the Father, Guardian, and God of all humanity. To the Chaos Gods, the Daemons of the Warp, and Xenos everywhere, He is the Anathema, the embodiment of universal order.
As an immortal, by the time of Warhammer 40K‘s present-day timeline, he is a husk of a human being — kept alive only by being permanently plugged into his Golden Throne, a life support system, and by the sheer will of his mind, as he is the most powerful psyker ever born. Not to mention the sacrifice of thousands of lives on a daily basis feeding his lifeforce. Cavill could perhaps portray the much younger Emperor as part of a prequel storyline, or else his return to active heroism as part of the Horus Heresy saga.
Really, the sky is the limit when it comes to Amazon’s Warhammer 40K series. And something tells us Henry Cavill has got some treats up his sleeves.