I'll try to make this as coherent as possible but for anyone who has read my blog you know I can't make any promises. I don't know why I bother to say I'll try but I do. I think it makes me seem like I'll be better this time. We all know I won't.
About the 40k universe. I'm talking about the Space Marines in this case. Yes, Custodes kind of fall under that but they're not important to the general theme I'm going for. And yes, Primarchs but they're not relevant either. All three are gene engineered but to different extents. As Space Marines are the equivalent of generic while the others are brand name we'll go with that.
Yes. In the lore the Space Marine tinkering was meant to be generic. Anything more than that took too long. So Big E toned down the goodies and made a bunch of super soldiers without any real special stuff. They're assembly line work. And they're treated as disposable in a lot of respects even without going through all the HH culling. Because, after all, they can always make more.
Now I'm going into my head canon and my own small knowledge of biology. It's been a long time since I took biology but with the lore and a bit of that there's some things that come to mind for Space Marines. The short version is that they're mules. The process that makes them into Space Marines pretty much takes them out of the gene pool. And that's by intention.
So many books refer to the changes in their physiology. There's a consistent "He would have been handsome if it hadn't been for ...". They're massive compared to humanity. And they're processed when they're teenagers. They have the fear response removed. So hormonally they're altered as well. All in all it makes sense to cut them out of the human pool since they're not meant to spread the geneseed willy nilly.
Then there's that geenseed. It comes from implanted organs. So there's no canon on whether or not those changes actually change the DNA or if they're reliant on the organs. The implication is that the organs do it and that's why they take them back when they can. There's bits and pieces saying that the 'donors' will live on in the next implantation but that's the kind of lie someone who's dying would tell themself. As it is the geneseed seems separate from previous hosts or they're be far more careful who they took it from.
Why am I going on about whether or not Space Marines get it on? Because with the way they're made and the changes I honestly don't think they can. Quite probably their naughty bits aren't part of the equation and the hormones involved down there have been rerouted into more aggression and less fear. So not only may they not be able to do the dirty they don't have any interest in it.
On to Mr. Cavill. He's a handsome man in most respects. When he's all cleaned up and shiny he's about as interesting as a soggy water biscuit. I stole that. Honestly - have a look at him on the red carpet or as Superman and while he's good looking he's rather meh. When they dirtied him up as Geralt he looks a lot better. At least in my and general opinion. He's got the kind of face that needs definition that comes from hard living.
Which brings me to the next point. How are they going to cast him? There's a lot of talk about which of the lore characters he'd be and my thought is that he should be none of them. Space Marines aren't handsome. They're also huge. So anything where he's in the Space Marine clique would require the huge costumes, CGI, and other expensive things that look dated a year after they're released. There's also only so much you can do with a chapter of Space Marines. They fight. They practice fighting. They fight. There's not much else in their lives. That's what they were built for. And they wear those big helmets. What's the point of casting a well-known handsome actor when you're going to slap a helmet on him for most of the show?
My personal opinion is that the series would be better served by using the guardsmen as the central focus. The humans. And I say this for several reasons.
The first reason is cost. Having the bulk of the cast be human means they're working just fine with fewer special effects. That and the comparison between them and the Space Marines would be more jarring. Fewer Space Marines too when it comes to that. Showing the difference between guardsmen who do know fear and the ones who don't make both more emphatic.
The second reason is story. As I said earlier - Space Marines are pretty boring, story wise. They have their little spats within the chapters but overall they do what they're told. They're toy soldiers. It would be problematic if they keep killing off characters around the one Henry is playing. Making him more of a leader again gives the problem of a fluid cast around him and little in the way of character development. Space Marines don't grow.
My personal idea is to make him a put-up guardsman sergeant. Give him a troop and all the problems that come with being in that rank. Then he could really chew the scenery and have a decent ensemble cast to keep the stories fresh. Killing off one or two won't matter as much and the Space Marines are as rare as they should be.
There's people who are trying to decide what Primarch he should be. Unless they go back to 30k time there's not that many to choose from and they were even less interesting than the Space Marines. These were beings designed for specific roles and they didn't really deviate. They're figureheads and the amount of special effects to have a main character as a Primarch would be incredibly cost prohibitive.
I know everyone wants him to be the Hero. That's what he's been. But maybe it's time to let him be the hero, lower case letter H. Center the show around him but not as the top of the pyramid. Having characters both above and below him would give him a huge range that's not possible when it gets unbalanced. Let's face it - 40k is unbalanced enough as a game that doing it as a show would be correct but annoying.
Another reason to put him as a human would be to let him be human. That means his physiology would be just fine the way it is. Heck, he could even cut down on the weightlifting and slim down a little. Being human means romantic interests. It means getting hurt. It means fearing things that the big guys brush off. It gives him a range as an actor that isn't possible if they cast him different.
I could be completely wrong on this. On all of it. I don't think I'm completely off the mark on the geneseed stuff but the show? Yeah. They're going for ratings. And if their audience is expected and demanding the guy play in power armor then he'll be in power armor. I just think it would be a waste of the show and of the actor to take away so many options for where things could go.
Comment below if you have thoughts on this. Note that all comments are moderated on this blog so if you're just going to call me names it isn't getting through. Comments that are civil will go through even if they destroy every single thing I've written here. I'm all for discussion, if it's done with manners.
