Amazon’s ‘Secret Level’ Is the Next Big Thing for ‘Warhammer 40K’ Fans – But Is There Any Hope It Will Do Justice To The Franchise’s Grim Dark Majesty?
Thanks to Amazon’s upcoming Secret Level series, the Warhammer 40,000 IP will finally be receiving its first ‘big budget’ screen production – but given the current attitudes surrounding the war gaming series, one has to ask: Is there any hope that the animated show will do justice to its grim dark source material?
Coming from the mind of by Love Death + Robots creator Tim Miller and Bloodshot director Dave Wilson and developed in collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios and Miller’s own VFX house Blur Studio (who also helped produce Netflix’s Love Death + Robots), Secret Level is an animated anthology series whose each episode focuses on a different video game property, such as Sifu, The Outerworlds, Mega Man and of course, Warhammer 40,000.
Just recently, Amazon shared an extended trailer for the series’ Warhammer episode, which is set to bring viewers into the heart of the grim dark universe.
And though the teaser lasts less than a minute, its contents make it evident that Games Workshop’s original universe will be receiving a high-level of production effort, with its visuals set to satisfy both new and die-hard fans, as evidenced by the brief presentation of a Marine squad, their heavy bolt pistols and plasma shimmering in all their glory
Per the trailer, it seems the Warhammer 40,000 episode will continue the story of Ultramarine Lieutenant Demetrian Titus, his voice again provided by Clive Standen, as first detailed in the Saber Interactive-developed, Focus Entertainment-published Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.
The game’s campaign ends on a cliffhanger with Lieutenant Titus sent on a new mission along with Lord Calgar, Chapter Master of the Ultramarines Space Marines, and the trailer appears to jump through various points through his history, ending on an epochal scene of the soldier standing over a defeated foe, all while a narrator voices various dogmatic phrases from across the series’ lore.
Like in the game, the Space Marines set to appear in Secret Level are depicted as near-mythical angels of war who exist to protect humanity – or more accurately serve the God-Emperor – against the hordes of the predatory bug-like Tyranids by carving their way through them in the most gory of fashions.
Suffice to say, the authenticity seen in Secret Level‘s take on the war-torn universe is more than remarkable.
However, while the episode’s visuals look good, it should be noted that truly capturing the desolate majesty of Warhammer 40,000 means more than just delivering quality aesthetics.
More so than just dark skies and space soldiers, what truly defines Warhammer 40,000 is its atmosphere, which reflects a desperate humanity slowly decaying into a dystopian, amoral, and violently future under the auspices of surviving against the horrors of deep space.
The tragic heroics of the Space Marines mirror those of the ancient Roman legionaries, and if the episode seeks to be a success, it will need to put in effort to appropriately capture these themes.
Of course, this begs the question of whether or not a stand-alone episode will allow for enough time to explore the fragile balance between devotion, destruction, and the ever-present shadow of inevitable doom that defines the Warhammer universe.
To this end, it appears the franchise is in good hands with Blur Studio.
Not only does the studio have extensive experience producing video game-related animations, with their credits including the Batman: Arkham series’ post-Asylum cinematic trailers, the cinematics in Dark Souls II, and various scenes across every entry of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, but they’ve also proven their chops in the animated anthology format with their previous Love Death + Robots, which received near universal praise from both audiences and viewers.
All things considered, the veteran studio is a reliable choice to expertly and succinctly translate Warhammer 40,000‘s grim dark majesty to the animated medium.
That said, the 15-episode Secret Level is set to premiere on December 10th, with two episodes premiering each week.
However, at current, word remains out on just when the Warhammer 40,000 episode will make its debut.
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