One of the most exciting projects in development at Prime Video is Henry Cavill’s Warhammer 40,000 series. There’s been demand to bring Games Workshop’s brutal grimdark sci-fi universe to the small screen almost since the tabletop game’s birth in 1987, and now Henry Cavill, along with showrunner Mike Flanagan, are making it happen. However, the live-action project Cavill is spearheading won’t be the only show in the streamer’s Warhammer 40k franchise, and Prime Video already has another project confirmed for its cinematic universe.
Amazon also has an animated Warhammer 40,000 TV show in development, and it’s building on an existing Prime Video show that already demonstrated why so many want to see the franchise adapted for the small screen. That series is the animated sci-fi Secret Level, which has gained fresh significance now that it’s retroactively become part of Amazon’s ambitions for a 40k cinematic universe. Its Warhammer-focused episode, “And They Shall Know No Fear,” is now getting its own full-length spinoff.
Rather than focusing on Warhammer 40k, Secret Level is an animated anthology created by Deadpool director and Love, Death & Robots creator Tim Miller. The 2024 show tells original stories set in a variety of video game worlds, with the 5th episode following Titus from the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine games. Each installment explored a vibrant and unique setting and stands out as an achievement in animated storytelling, but the Warhammer 40,000 Secret Level episode is now particularly important. By capturing the franchise’s oppressive atmosphere and spectacular violence, it helped establish the screen potential of the universe Henry Cavill is now helping Prime Video to adapt.
Secret Level’s Warhammer 40K Episode Is Getting Its Own Series
Secret Level always felt like it should be the foundation for something greater rather than a single-season experiment. Season 2 was thankfully confirmed in December 2024 and is currently in production, but its legacy is also expanding through a dedicated Warhammer 40,000 animated series that directly builds upon the story of “And They Shall Know No Fear”. Dave Wilson, who directed the Secret Level episode, is developing the project, while Henry Cavill is among the executive producers.
For those who have yet to watch it, the Secret Level Warhammer 40k episode follows Lieutenant Titus, the genetically enhanced Astartes warrior from the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine games. Set after Space Marine 2, the standalone Secret Level story places Titus and a handful of his Ultramarine battle brothers inside a short, ferocious mission. It’s not a lore-heavy tale, but it communicates the setting’s appeal without needing to explain its entire history. The Space Marine games proved Titus is a great entry point character for those unfamiliar with the vast setting, and Secret Level managed to perfectly tap into this.
However, the upcoming Warhammer 40,000 spinoff of Secret Level isn’t necessarily going to be a continuation of Titus’s personal story. There’s little known about the plot, but it has been confirmed it will focus on the Deathwatch, a group of veteran Space Marines from multiple chapters who specialize specifically in eliminating alien threats. Titus was himself a member of the Death Watch, and his history with them makes his involvement in the show likely, but it’s yet to be officially confirmed.
Regardless, expanding the Warhammer 40,000 episode of Secret Level even without Titus specifically makes perfect sense. The universes of the games in many of the episodes were definitely vast, but none have narrative potential quite like Warhammer 40k. Secret Level’s “And They Shall Know No Fear” managed to dilute the appeal of the setting down to a single 20-minute episode. A full animated season could explore a much larger story within it without losing any of what made the Secret Level episode so exhilarating from start to finish, especially if it focuses on Titus once again.
Henry Cavill’s Warhammer TV Show Has Limitless Storytelling Potential
It’s hardly surprising that Warhammer 40,000 has become the basis for the first Secret Level spinoff. Many of the properties featured in the anthology have substantial worlds, but few rival the sheer volume of lore that’s amassed around the 40k universe since the tabletop game first began in 1987. There have been countless stories in the dozens of novels, flavor-heavy rulebooks, audio dramas, and video games that now make up the franchise. It’s not an understatement to say there are more Warhammer 40,000 narratives than could conceivably be adapted into TV shows in a single lifetime.
That breadth of possibility is incredibly exciting for Henry Cavill and Mike Flanagan’s live-action Warhammer 40,000 TV show. While the Secret Level spinoff is focusing on the poster-boys of the 40k universe, the Space Marines, the live-action series adaptation could follow anything. The story could concern ordinary human soldiers struggling to survive against hyper-advanced alien foes, investigators uncovering alien corruption, or even warrior nuns making the ultimate sacrifice for the God Emperor of Mankind. Military action, political intrigue, and cosmic horror all belong within this universe, and every corner feels ripe for a TV adaptation.
Choosing an accessible starting point is arguably a greater challenge for Henry Cavill and Mike Flanagan than finding a storyline that would work as a Warhammer 40,000 TV show. The animated project at least has a useful test case Titus. His Space Marine videogame appearances gave Secret Level an established protagonist with an existing audience, Titus already proved that viewers are here for stories of towering Space Marines unloading thousands of bolter rounds into aliens and daemonic threats. However, there’s much more to the Warhammer 40,000 universe than Titus and his Astartes brothers.
It’s these other corners of the 40k setting that many fans are hoping the live-action Prime Video series will explore, which makes Henry Cavill’s involvement hugely reassuring. His publicly expressed commitment to respecting source material suits a franchise whose appeal depends on its distinctive identity and the variety within its lore. With the animated Secret Level spinoff covering the action-packed lives of Space Marines, Henry Cavill’s live-action Warhammer series has room to explore different corners of the setting. The only question that remains is which one it will pick.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
