Like many Warhammer fans, I’ve long thought that a Warhammer TV show would be a great idea. I also thought that a Warhammer TV show about the Horus Heresy, the most famous and complex story in the 41st millennium (technically the 31st, but you know what I mean), would be terrible.
This is a series that comprises 64 books, as I found out when I began the series and contemplated starting a book club in order to make sense of the convoluted reading order. How do you do it justice? How do you distil such an epic tale into a few ten-hour seasons?
I was always of the mindset that it made sense to adapt the Eisenhorn series. Mark Strong as the titular Inquisitor, obviously. It’s got the epic battles and grimdark gothic atmosphere of the 41st millennium, but the characters are more interesting and appealing than the impassive Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes.
However, I’ve recently changed my mind.
The Best Horus Heresy Characters Are Not The Space Marines
I’ve nearly finished Horus Rising, the first book in the Horus Heresy series. It follows Garviel Loken, a captain of the Luna Wolves, as the Emperor’s crusade ravages through the stars. But where Space Marines are often dull, we see deep into Loken’s mind, we see how the seeds of heresy are sown, and we see plenty of normal people to put the Astartes into perspective.
We listen into conversations between Loken and Kyril Sindermann, an Iterator who spreads Imperial propaganda throughout the galaxy. He acts as a mentor (read: therapist) to Loken and offers a more human perspective on the events of the novel, as well as being a vehicle for Loken’s doubts and worries to be aired or assuaged.
I also love the Rememberancers. Somewhere between war photojournalists and Imperial bards, their job is to document the crusade. Seeing the wars, and the Space Marines themselves, from the perspective of regular, Terran-born humans gives the protagonists suitable gravitas befitting their rank.
Before starting the series, I worried that this would be a generic tale of generic supersoldiers. Thankfully, it’s the opposite.
How Do You Adapt 64 Novels?
Reading the Horus Heresy books has me contemplating starting an Imperial army for the first time in a decade. It’s a very dangerous thing and, as marketing (which all Warhammer fiction fundamentally is), it’s extremely effective. I want to start a 30K army. I’ve always loved the Mk 3 armour, and this book might be the tipping point for me to pull the trigger.
I’m hoping to hold onto my cash at least until the Emperor’s Children arrive next year, and read Fulgrim while painting them.
I don’t know how you’d begin to adapt 64 novels into a TV series, though. You’d obviously have to skip some books entirely, and pick the most important characters to follow. I’d also recommend we follow some of the more regular folks rather than the Primarchs themselves. Obviously Horus should be central to the narrative, but seeing him through Loken’s eyes would be far more interesting than just watching a demigod tear through the galaxy.
The internal politicking is reminiscent of Game of Thrones, and I could envisage an episode entirely told from the perspective of a Remembrancer. Perhaps it could show the horrors of war from a new point of view, perhaps it will be shot like Fly from Breaking Bad.
Whatever the path, there’s a way to do a Horus Heresy TV show. It needs the scale of Game of Thrones, the characterisation of The Expanse, and legions of fans will tune in. Does that mean I think it’ll happen? No. I don’t think we’ll get Eisenhorn either, for what it’s worth. We’ll get a show that sells toy soldiers, and Warhammer 30K is a side game and Eisenhorn could sell maybe one squad of models.
I could see us following Space Marine 2’s Lieutenant Titus into battle as we will in Secret Level – that game has undoubtedly sold Space Marines. But if you want to get fans on board, there’s only one series to adapt. Consider myself a convert. Get Amazon on the blower. The only thing left to do is fancast Loken. I vote Christian Bale.
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