Speaking as a geek (or nerd, whichever you prefer), I, like many others, lament what is being done to beloved franchises like Marvel Comics, Indiana Jones, and, of course, Star Wars.
As you may have heard from our own Lincoln Brown or our friends at Twitchy and Hot Air, a new Star Wars movie is in the works, featuring everyone's "favorite" Mary Sue, Rey 'Skywalker' Palpatine (poor Daisy Ridley, having to play such a hated character).
And of course, its new director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, is a perfect example of DEI: a Pakistani woman who proudly wants to "make men uncomfortable" and somehow forgot several of the most pivotal characters in the Star Wars saga were female (Leia, her mother Padme Amidala, Ahsoka Tano, just to name a few).
As Lincoln said, Disney isn't trying anymore, just reanimating the corpse of a beloved IP they killed. Not even for the money (every movie they've been putting out in the past few years seems to be getting more and more woke, and they flopped harder than FIFA players), but seemingly out of sadism.
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Which brings me to another sci-fi franchise that is getting adapted for screens.
"Warhammer 40,000" is a British tabletop miniatures wargame known for its "grimdark" setting and background, a term derived from its tagline of "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."
If you need a visual, take Frank Herbert's "Dune," a bit of "Alien," throw in some other influences like other science fiction series, add a little traditional fantasy for flavor, and then wrap it all up in a gothic visual and you have "Warhammer 40k." Ever seen those memes of Donald Trump in flashy golden armor? It's from there.
"40k," as we nerds like to shorten it, has remained pretty niche, arguably until "Superman" and "The Witcher" actor Henry Cavill came out and said he was into it, and it was recently announced he will be executive producer and star in a live-action adaptation of the setting.
Aside from the difficulty of adapting a setting as expansive as Warhammer is (of which there are many story hooks), longtime fans of the franchise are cautious of what to expect from this adaptation, especially since Games Workshop (the company that makes Warhammer) is teaming up with Amazon Studios to bring the setting to life.
Amazon, as you know, was behind the lore-violating mess that is "The Rings of Power," a pseudo-adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's life's work, Middle-Earth. Despite spending boatloads of cash to produce each episode, how many people do you know say they have watched it (counting on one hand, even)?
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But Cavill is a fan of the setting, and Games Workshop said in the announcement that aiding him is " an elite band of screenwriters, each with their own particular passion for Warhammer."
To which the more cynical will say, "Henry Cavill is also a fan of 'The Witcher,' and look what happened to the Netflix adaptation of that franchise."
But this can only remain as speculation for the time being, as Games Workshop also said it could be a couple more years before we know much more about this adaptation.
And if we do not keep rolling 1's, something "Dungeons and Dragons" and "Warhammer" players can both say, the current backlash against wokeness will make studio execs and their shareholders wise up before us "40k" nerds get to see Henry Cavill fighting off a horde of Orks or Tyranids onscreen.
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