Warhammer has announced a new official series in the 40k universe, but this time without Henry Cavill. Pariah Nexus is set to launch on the premium service Warhammer+ in 2023. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus, as a fan of the franchise, is thrilled, especially because the trailer highlights factions that usually receive little attention.
No idea what’s going on right now. When the Dragon Age series Absolution was announced in November, I was already more excited than with Arcane. At that point, I was certain: it could only get better if Warhammer nerd Henry Cavill (Superman, The Witcher) eventually becomes the star in a Warhammer series.
Then he suddenly announces just that. Henry Cavill is making a Warhammer series together with Amazon, but so far without more specific info on release and content. Still, it’s exactly the right casting.
The only downside: it will probably be about the Imperium and the Space Marines, which is just perfectly suited for Cavill. I love the Warhammer franchise even a bit more than Warcraft, but the Space Marine cliché is just worn out.
Now Warhammer has ANNOUNCED yet another series: Pariah Nexus, an animated series. And it also fulfills my remaining wishes that have been left open in recent weeks.
Here you can see the trailer for Pariah Nexus:
Divine warrior-nuns and undead robots in the spotlight
The main role in Pariah Nexus is played by a mismatched crew from the units of the Imperium as protagonists and the Necrons as their opponents. Specifically: the trailer shows an Adepta Sororitas and an imperial guardswoman in lead roles.
Since I can imagine that half of you would look at me with a blank expression, I’ll briefly explain what all these foreign words actually mean.
Necrons are, broadly speaking, space zombies. The mechanical species resembles ancient Egypt in terms of its appearance, architecture, and fantasy, but with Gauss cannons and bodies made of nearly indestructible metal. Necrons play a larger role in 40k, but that would exceed the scope of this discussion. Therefore, I refer you to the German Warhammer Wiki.
Adepta Sororitas are basically the fanatical branch of the church of the Imperium, which consists (almost) exclusively of women. The warrior nuns are “only” humans, but their faith in the Emperor grants them almost divine powers such as protection from bullets and fanatical zeal in battle.
However, typical for Warhammer, they are not just obedient nuns. Those who do not obey are punished. My favorite toy of the Sororitas: the “Penitent Engine.” Heretics are strapped in front of an armed walker unprotected and armorless, pumped full of drugs, and sent to the front. This means: the heretic survives even serious injuries, but feels the pain and survives only as long as the will of the Emperor allows.
The Sororitas and the Necrons are my favorite factions in the 40k universe, which I primarily played in the older strategy games of the franchise. To see them now in a series makes me simply happy, even though I still don’t know exactly what roles they will play.
Warhammer 40k finally without pumped-up superhumans
The fact that Sororitas and Necrons are my favorite factions is not the only reason for my joy. Even if Tyranids and Tau or Dark Eldar had played the sole lead role, I would still have been quite satisfied.
Because Warhammer 40k primarily revolves around the idea of Space Marines (“Astartes”). These are literally bred men with a body that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime look pale in comparison and absurd superhuman abilities.
Some Space Marines can detect poison by taste, have multiple hearts or lungs, bulletproof bones made of a kind of titanium, and are easily over 2 meters tall. They owe this to the “gene-seed” of their Primarchs, the absolute superhumans that the “Big Daddy” Emperor himself has bred.
Sure, cool … if you see it once or twice. However, the Space Marines are the flagship of Warhammer 40k, and there are countless books, games, and more about these crazy characters.
While Space Marines also appear in Pariah Nexus, they are not the main focus. The fact that the series remembers that there are other creatures in the world is excellent! But it also makes me a bit sad.
With Darktide, a new co-op shooter in Warhammer 40k was released in November 2022, which also forgoes Space Marines. You can see the trailer here:
Pariah Nexus gives me a nostalgic sting
Actually, I prefer Warhammer Fantasy to the sci-fi world of 40k. Nevertheless, Warhammer 40,000 has some of my favorite video games of all time, including Dawn of War, what I consider the best real-time strategy game of all time.
However, Dawn of War has unfortunately never been as good since the first part, which was released in 2004. The second part of the series had completely different mechanics, no real base building anymore, and more restrictions.
Part 3 was better again but didn’t last long. Only a few months after release, the game was shut down: The game was released in April 2017, a proud 8 years after part 2. Development was discontinued in February 2018. You can still play, but no new content or patches are coming. This is particularly bitter because the Necrons were already confirmed as the first DLC but never arrived.
Back then, I was happy to get at least some progress with Dawn of War 3 over the second part. Here is the announcement trailer that excited me:
Dawn of War is a series that deserves more attention, and I wish for a remaster or a fourth part. To see my two favorite factions now in the series is at least a small consolation.
So it doesn’t bother me much that I have to pay extra for it. Because Pariah Nexus will only be available on Warhammer+, a premium service that costs €5.49 monthly or €54.99 annually.
If the series is released with weekly episodes, I will probably wait until it is all available and then watch it on a weekend. I still don’t know how long the individual episodes will be.
However, I hope that there is indeed more substance here than in Dragon Age: Absolution. That only lasted 3 hours and definitely made me eager for more:
If you have 3 hours to spare, you should definitely watch Dragon Age: Absolution on Netflix
