Terrance Stamp: Ultramarine.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

Kneel before Marneus Calgar!

They've updated the site for the Warhammer 40,000 movie by announcing the voice actors. Terrance Stamp is probably the most famous of them, but there are some other names I recognize, too. Check it out. The movie really seems to be coming along.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Sean Pertwee was in Event Horizon, a 40k film in all but name. Awesome.

The others I'm not especially familiar with, but it looks like they've got a pretty decent cast. I'm glad to see they're really trying to make this film work.

[Rama]

John Hurt! Holy crap!

[Ugolino]

On one hand, yay.

On the other hand, it's still the damn smurfs.

[Sinewmire]

Awesome casting, but then, Fire Warrior had good voice actors, like Leslie Philips, Brian Blessed and, oh yes, Sean Pertwee.

Still, I'm cautiously optimistic.

[NecronLord]

I get the impression that John Hurt is in it for revenge on the alien's bigger brother.

[andrewgpaul]

Well, Donald Sumpter's just had experience playing a religious nutter fighting the forces of darkness.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Which time period is it set in?

[Srelex]

Which time period is it set in?

For some reason I'd think the Tyranid attack on Macragge. But most likely I don't think they'll specify much, if it's going to revolve around original events.

[Aaron]

On one hand, yay.

On the other hand, it's still the damn smurfs.

Abnett is writing the screenplay and he does pretty good with Space Marines. Brothers of the Snake was quite excellent and their a smurfs successor chapter, I think.

Anyways, my point is, we hopefully won't see any Graham McNeil style horsehit.

[Sidewinder]

The concept art gallery shows much effort and attention to detail. Here's hoping the rest of the movie shows the same.

Anyways, my point is, we hopefully won't see any Graham McNeil style horsehit.

I've read little of McNeil's work, so I'm reserving judgment. I just hope the scriptwriters leave out the "The Sons of Guilliman are the only true Space Marines- everyone else is just a wannabe! Suck it, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Salamanders, Iron Hands, and all you other losers!" hubris I saw in the 5th Edition codex.

[NecronLord]

The point of that hubris was to try and get rid of the 'these guys are "smurfs"' attitude. Unfortunately, the Ultras suffer from being 'a beginner's army' and from not having some cool abberation like being fuckin' vampires, or warewolves, or having a terrible dark secret that makes them dicks, like the other major Second Edition chapters.

[Aaron]

I've read little of McNeil's work, so I'm reserving judgment. I just hope the scriptwriters leave out the "The Sons of Guilliman are the only true Space Marines- everyone else is just a wannabe! Suck it, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Salamanders, Iron Hands, and all you other losers!" hubris I saw in the 5th Edition codex.

He's not a terrible author or anything, my ire stems from the third Ultramarines novel, when Calgar exiles Ventris and his Sgt. Sending two men who literally saved two worlds on a death oath was...very disappointing. He also really drives home that a good number of the Ultramarines are slaves to the Codex.

[Teleros]

Calgar's obviously been around long enough to recognise people with strong enough character shields .

In-universe, the Imperium's elites do tend to take the whole "purity" issue very seriously (and given the Horus Heresy, corruption by Chaos, and so on, perhaps with good reason). The trouble I found with the "slaves to the Codex" thing was that in some bits and pieces of fluff the Codex Astartes is described as having been added to by various people over the millennia. Why Calgar didn't set up a conference to debate whether or not to include Uriel Ventris' actions into it seems rather odd. In-Chapter politics perhaps?

[Cykeisme]

I just hope the scriptwriters leave out the "The Sons of Guilliman are the only true Space Marines- everyone else is just a wannabe! Suck it, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Salamanders, Iron Hands, and all you other losers!" hubris I saw in the 5th Edition codex.

The title of the actual books give that impression but you might be taking it the wrong way.. a lot of those chapters are getting their entire own rulebooks.

Codex: Space Marines refers to chapters that adhere to Guilliman's Codex Astartes. Chapters with significant deviations get their entire own books (Space Wolves, Blood Angels, and in the past Dark Angels and Black Templars etc), so it's hardly like they're not getting acknowledgement. Besides, Codex: Space Marines had those leader characters who apply significant rule changes on the army to reflect other major chapters.


As an aside, I don't really understand all the anti-Ultramarines sentiments.. it's usually very vehement, but when questioned, the logic behind it is very shaky.

[Aaron]

I just hope the scriptwriters leave out the "The Sons of Guilliman are the only true Space Marines- everyone else is just a wannabe! Suck it, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Salamanders, Iron Hands, and all you other losers!" hubris I saw in the 5th Edition codex.

The title of the actual books give that impression but you might be taking it the wrong way.. a lot of those chapters are getting their entire own rulebooks.

Codex: Space Marines refers to chapters that adhere to Guilliman's Codex Astartes. Chapters with significant deviations get their entire own books (Space Wolves, Blood Angels, and in the past Dark Angels and Black Templars etc), so it's hardly like they're not getting acknowledgement. Besides, Codex: Space Marines had those leader characters who apply significant rule changes on the army to reflect other major chapters.


As an aside, I don't really understand all the anti-Ultramarines sentiments.. it's usually very vehement, but when questioned, the logic behind it is very shaky.

I think my dislike is rooted in their reverence for the Codex, there isn't really anything wrong with the Chapter itself (aside from what I've mentioned) and they can be done well, as the first two books in the omnibus show. I view personal initiative to be important on a battlefield rather then falling back on "well Codex says we need X, Y and Z to do this." I realize that the Codex is ten thousand years old and probably contains all number of potential situations but the devotion to it, excluding other methods bothers me.

It's pretty nebulous, I'll admit. I'm also a Space Wolves/White Scars fan so *shrug*.

[Aaron]

All that aside, I'm optimistic about this. They've got some good voice actors on board and if the story is good, it won't matter what Chapter it is. Abnett is a decent author and I like his take on Space Marines.

[Lagmonster]

I get the impression that John Hurt is in it for revenge on the alien's bigger brother.

I think it should be obvious that everything John Hurt did after Jake Speed was downhill.

[Azazal]

I get the impression that John Hurt is in it for revenge on the alien's bigger brother.

I think it should be obvious that everything John Hurt did after Jake Speed was downhill.

Guess it would be too much to ask for Hurt to play the nemesis Emperor's Children character, lovingly called little boots by his subordinates.

[Ugolino]

As an aside, I don't really understand all the anti-Ultramarines sentiments.. it's usually very vehement, but when questioned, the logic behind it is very shaky.

One, their paint job is awful. Two, their fluff is pretty bad. Three, the GW writers are evidently in love with them.

Just look at the 5th edition SM codex, and the older ones for that matter.

"Ultras r l33t, 1 of our honour guard > company of generic marines, our special chars are better than their counterparts, we're the best, blah blah..."

Even by the usual Codex descriptions, it's over the top, and bashes the other chapters.

I quite frankly would take the old version that over-followed the Codex over their current incarnation. If GW came to their senses and had them wiped out by the Nids in 6th edition, I wouldn't be too unhappy.

[Serafina]

Calgar's obviously been around long enough to recognise people with strong enough character shields .

In-universe, the Imperium's elites do tend to take the whole "purity" issue very seriously (and given the Horus Heresy, corruption by Chaos, and so on, perhaps with good reason). The trouble I found with the "slaves to the Codex" thing was that in some bits and pieces of fluff the Codex Astartes is described as having been added to by various people over the millennia. Why Calgar didn't set up a conference to debate whether or not to include Uriel Ventris' actions into it seems rather odd. In-Chapter politics perhaps?

Simple: Uriel did not have the authority/rank to question the codex.
The previous additions were most likely done by chapter masters or captains, not by normal battlebrothers.

Either way, the movie starts to look better and better.

[Teleros]

Erm, I'm pretty sure Uriel was a captain when he, for example, stripped down those Thunderhawks so as to attack the Tyrand norn queen...

[open_sketchbook]

I just hope the scriptwriters leave out the "The Sons of Guilliman are the only true Space Marines- everyone else is just a wannabe! Suck it, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Salamanders, Iron Hands, and all you other losers!" hubris I saw in the 5th Edition codex.

The title of the actual books give that impression but you might be taking it the wrong way.. a lot of those chapters are getting their entire own rulebooks.

Codex: Space Marines refers to chapters that adhere to Guilliman's Codex Astartes. Chapters with significant deviations get their entire own books (Space Wolves, Blood Angels, and in the past Dark Angels and Black Templars etc), so it's hardly like they're not getting acknowledgement. Besides, Codex: Space Marines had those leader characters who apply significant rule changes on the army to reflect other major chapters.


As an aside, I don't really understand all the anti-Ultramarines sentiments.. it's usually very vehement, but when questioned, the logic behind it is very shaky.

I think my dislike is rooted in their reverence for the Codex, there isn't really anything wrong with the Chapter itself (aside from what I've mentioned) and they can be done well, as the first two books in the omnibus show. I view personal initiative to be important on a battlefield rather then falling back on "well Codex says we need X, Y and Z to do this." I realize that the Codex is ten thousand years old and probably contains all number of potential situations but the devotion to it, excluding other methods bothers me.

It's pretty nebulous, I'll admit. I'm also a Space Wolves/White Scars fan so *shrug*.

I seem to remember some obscure peice of lore somewhere that said the most important lesson of the Codex is knowing when not to follow it or something along those lines.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

One, their paint job is awful. Two, their fluff is pretty bad. Three, the GW writers are evidently in love with them.

Their paint job may be boring, but it's not awful. And it's pretty hard to compare it to the Imperial Fists, Blood Angels or Space Wolves paint jobs and say it's worse than them. So, it's a bit monotone. So what? At least it's a good color for good guys and doesn't make then look like fire hydrants.

Just look at the 5th edition SM codex, and the older ones for that matter.

"Ultras r l33t, 1 of our honour guard > company of generic marines, our special chars are better than their counterparts, we're the best, blah blah..."

Even by the usual Codex descriptions, it's over the top, and bashes the other chapters.

I quite frankly would take the old version that over-followed the Codex over their current incarnation. If GW came to their senses and had them wiped out by the Nids in 6th edition, I wouldn't be too unhappy.

The main reason for the 5th Ed. Codex problem is because GW told Matt Ward that he was writing Codex: Ultramarines and only had him change it to Codex: Space Marines at the last minute, when it was too late to rewrite the whole thing. Imagine if you read the Space Wolves or Blood Angels codexes (or codices) and they were titled Codex: Space Marines. You'd be pretty pissed at those chapters, too, wouldn't you?

Besides, The Ultramarines really are one of the best chapters in the fluff. They're pretty vanilla in terms of appearance and personality--no mutations or bizarre cultural fixations and very few lame gimmicks compared to other chapters. The Ultramarines are also one of the nicest and most heroic chapters out there, unlike some of the more popular chapters which are comprised entirely by psychopaths and douchebags. The Ultramarines are also one of the most successful chapters, having the biggest empire and most successors of any space marine chapter. They must have some competence to have thrived as they have.

When you look at the rest of the space marine chapters, you get a better idea why GW use the Ultramarines as their front men:

-The Dark Angels: They have a dark secret and are an incredible pile of assholes. They have few successor chapters and do very little good for the Imperium because they're too busy with their lame "backstory" issues.

-The Blood Angels: Renaissance Roman Space Vampires? Just a little too over the top for mass consumption. Heck, the new models have massive winged codpieces and chrome 300 abs.

-The Space Wolves: Space Viking Werewolves! They might have a lot of character, but the Space Wolves make a terrible chapter on which to base something so broad as your first franchise movie. They're almost as hard to take seriously as the Blood Angels. It doesn't help that they all have names like "Wolfy McWolfstein" or "Bjorn Logan Snikt Bub".

-The Iron Hands: Part men, part machines. All assholes.

-The Salamanders: Perhaps the only chapter nicer (to the normals) and more heroic in their actions than the Ultramarines. Too bad they're mutants with a one-note fixation on fire-breathing lizards.

-The Raven Guard: The Tim Burton Marines. Maybe GW will someday use them to film The Nightmare Before Emperor's Day.

-The White Scars: Space Mongols. There is almost nothing else to them. They'd be a ridiculous chapter to base a film on.

-The Imperial Fists: They're a pretty vanilla group of space marines, but they are often portrayed as unsympathetic douchebags. Plus, the seminal work on the Imperial Fists was chock full of homoeroticism and scatological humor, not exactly a marketable poster chapter for GW. Add on the horrible yellow paint job that the kids can't replicate at home, and you have a chapter that is best kept away from the visual media.

-The Black Templars: Psychopathic Space Crusaders. Not very kid-friendly, and not very mainstream friendly, either, since a proper portrayal of the BTs comes across as satire of the Christian church.

-The Crimson Fists: Even for a 40k chapter, their fluff is depressing. Besides, there's only so many ways to tell the same story. "Those Orks killed our chapter! From Hell's heart, we stab at them!"

-The Silver Skulls: Aren't they Dead?

-The Rainbow Warriors: I'm pretty sure they're dead.

I can't think of any more "popular" Space Marine chapters to compare. You can see how a process of elimination leaves us with the only presentable chapter for mass consumption being the Ultramarines.

[Darksider]

they could always bring the Dawn of War fluff into the mainstream and do Blood Ravens.