I’ll level with you, I’ve never seen Napoleon Dynamite. It’s one of those films that I feel like, if you missed watching in school, you’ve missed the boat. The same goes for films like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Mean Girls. If you watch any of these films set in high schools, while you’re in high school, they can shape your education experience. If you watch them as an adult, they don’t have the same impact. And you feel really old.
I’ve watched plenty such films as an adult and none of them have become my entire personality like they would have if I’d watched them a decade or two earlier. So I’m making no plans to watch Napoleon Dynamite any time soon, but I will watch the Warhammer documentary being made by its star.
Yes, you read that right. Napoleon Dynamite himself (or, more specifically, the actor who played him, Jon Heder) is making a documentary about Warhammer. Heder was spotted at Warhammer World in Nottingham recently. According to those who saw him, he’s trying to track down elusive artist John Blanche. While we can joke about just sending him a message on Facebook (to which he invariably replies), the nature of this documentary is intriguing.
Warhammer Is Mainstream Now
This has been the case for years, but the fact that this documentary even exists shows that Warhammer is mainstream now. After riding on the coattails of the Stranger Things-caused Dungeons & Dragons explosion and making a bunch of savvy business decisions to make the game more inclusive and approachable, Warhammer is bigger than ever.
To think, Games Workshop was on its knees in the late ‘90s before The Lord of the Rings saved it.
I’m not sure if Heder is a Henry Cavill-level Warhammer fan, but presumably he likes the stuff if he’s agreed to make a documentary about little plastic figures. Either that, or he’s been paid an inordinate sum of money, which seems unlikely to be the case for a hobby documentary.
But if he’s lurking around the UK’s lead belt, searching for a legend like John Blanche, then he’s certainly in the right place. This documentary has potential, potential that can only skyrocket if Heder considers games outside of Workshop.
What Is Napoleon Dynamite’s Warhammer Documentary Even About?
Luckily, he’s doing just that. The documentary isn’t about Warhammer in particular, but grimdark wargaming as a phenomenon. Obviously, Warhammer 40K will feature prominently in the film, being the progenitor of the genre, but Heder is spreading his eyes further afield.
Apparently Trench Crusade will also feature. The recently Kickstarted game designed by Tuomas Pirinen and created by Diablo and Magic: The Gathering artist Mike Franchina embodies the tenets of grimdark more than any other game I’ve ever seen, with its interesting spin on religious crusades and abominable hellcreatures invigorating thousands of fans to spend over £3 million on its Kickstarter campaign.
While Blanche isn’t involved in Trench Crusade, his own miniature range launched on Kickstarter earlier this year. Also sufficiently grimdark for a veteran of Mordheim, I’d be intrigued to see these feature alongside Blanche’s artwork in the documentary.
I don’t expect to see this documentary for a long while yet. Even a 2025 release seems optimistic. But its premise interests me, its star confuses me, and its subjects compel me. Grimdark wargaming has been going from strength to strength over the past few years, and perhaps Napoleon Dynamite will be the man to show the world that the hobby is so much bigger than Games Workshop.
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