Marvel Comics Reveals Details On Their Upcoming Warhammer 40,000 Comic

John F. Trent |

Jul 9, 2020

Marvel Comics recently revealed a number of details for their upcoming Warhammer 40,000 comic titled Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar.

Marvel announced back in October 2019 that they would publish new Warhammer comics with Marvel Comics editor Mark Basso stating, “I can’t tell you how excited we are about diving into the depths of the expansive universes of Warhammer.”

He added, “At Marvel, we’re no strangers to telling deeply character-focused tales set in an interconnected world of stories, and fans are going to love what we’re already starting to cook up with the Games Workshop team for the Warhammer comics.”

Now, Marvel has revealed that Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar will be written by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jacen Burrows.

Gillen is no stranger to Warhammer, he previously authored Crown of Destruction back in 2016 when BOOM! Studios held the license to publish Warhammer comics. In fact, according to Down The Tubes, Gillen’s first comics work was for Games Workshop’s Black Library in their Warhammer Monthly anthology series.

In Marneus Calgar, Gillen and Burrows will tell the story of the legendary Space Marine Chapter Master as he leads his Ultramarines against humanity’s greatest threats.

The series is also expected to shed light on the Chapter Master’s dark past.

Marvel Comics explains they will “tell Marneus Calgar’s never-before-told origin story – from his beginnings on the world of Nova Thulium, his campaigns in the Black Crusades, and to the unfolding mystery of the Black Altar as a deadly threat from his past reemerges to threaten the present of the Ultramar system.”

Further details were provided by Games Workshop. They detailed, “One of the 41st Millennium’s most famed warriors, Marneus Calgar is a champion of Humanity whose legacy goes right back to the earliest days of Rogue Trader. He’s a paragon of what makes a Space Marine a Space Marine, though his origins have always remained a mystery – until now.”

They added, “This new comic series will, at last, tell the origin story of this exemplar of the Adeptus Astartes, even going back as far as his time as a child on Nova Thulium.”

Gillen described how his passion and love for Warhammer prepared him for this opportunity, “I am venerable enough to have bought Rogue Trader in 1987. Since then, I like to think every hastily dry-brushed Necron, every badly edge-highlighted Marine, every ignored Harlequin (as painting Motley petrified me) has prepared me for writing the first Warhammer comics for Marvel.”

He continued, “If I said, ‘Getting to explore the roots of Marneus Calgar and setting the stage for Marvel’s Warhammer comics is a dream come true,’ I would be betraying everything this grim future should be since ‘dream’ implies the possibility of hope.”

“But getting to do this is the sort of thing Slaanesh would wave in my direction if she wanted me coming over to the tentacle-y side,” he added.

He concluded, “Or to translate for those less indoctrinated in 40K. I’m excited.”

Games Workshop’s Global Head of Licensing Jon Gillard also detailed his excitement for the upcoming Warhammer stories, “When we first started working with Marvel on comics, we knew it was going to lead to something exceptional, and it really has.”

He then outlined what their initial plans were, “We were both keen to focus on one of the most central Warhammer characters there is and tell their origin story, something that Marvel does oh so brilliantly.”

Gillard concluded, “Kieron’s depth of Warhammer knowledge mixed with his extraordinary comic writing skill has delivered a unique series that further expands upon the already massive 40K lore. As huge comic fans ourselves we couldn’t be more excited about this first expression of our partnership with Marvel”

YouTuber Arch Warhammer reacted to the news saying he’s been hesitant about Marvel’s involvement saying, “Now, the whole Marvel thing. The thing is Marvel has had a very rocky history with their comic books over the course of the last few years. ”

He adds, “Specifically rocky in a political way. They have made a lot of their comics very political and not in a good way.”

https://youtu.be/fHfWgTQRnUs

As for the actual story, Arch Warhammer is optimistic, “If through these comic books we can actually get some good Primaris Marines story that might finally be the thing that makes me warm to the Primaris Marines. So, I think this is a good idea. It’s a good place to start if nothing else.”