Games Workshop has released a new trailer for Astartes II, the most anticipated Warhammer 40,000 animation ever.
For the uninitiated, the original Astartes was created by superfan Syama Pedersen, who was subsequently brought into the fold to make the official sequel. Astartes is widely accepted as the greatest Warhammer 40,000 animation ever made, official or unofficial, with only Amazon’s excellent Space Marine 2 animation for the Secret Level anthology series competing with it in quality terms. Indeed, Astartes was so good that it inspired Saber Interactive’s hugely successful Space Marine 2 in terms of the look and feel of the Space Marines themselves.
During Games Workshop’s ‘Big Autumn Preview’ event, fans were treated to a new look at Astartes II, which confirms the appearance of Deathwatch and Terminators. As the company notes in a post on Warhammer Community, fans of Space Hulk will no doubt find a lot familiar here.
ASTARTES 2 teaser
Coming DecemberWe get to follow a Deathwatch unit investigating a Space Hulk! pic.twitter.com/DgveN5yz6K
— Jesus 40k Worldview (@40kWorldview) September 18, 2026
Indeed, the Space Hulk vibes come through loud and clear. We see Space Marines stomp about a dark, shadowy interior which you just know will house horrible, nightmarish things in the shadows. But the first-person shot of a corridor lit only by spotlights is the clearest sign that the much-loved tabletop game, Space Hulk, was an influence.
Also in the post, Games Workshop confirmed that Astartes II will be “significantly longer” than its predecessor, which is music to fan ears. Understandably as a single-person fan project, Astartes is on the short side.
“We knew already that this was likely to feature Deathwatch and Terminators, from the unsubtle hints dropped at the end of the LAST trailer, and now we see them, they look like they mean business,” Games Workshop said. “The imposing line of storm bolter barrels and the crackle of a power fist, combined with the ominous surroundings, are certainly giving off some strong Space Hulk vibes.
“Somehow even more intimidating than the blank visage of the Terminator helms is that unhelmeted Space Marine veteran, who could certainly be described as ‘grizzled.’ And we think we clocked at least three different characters and Chapters of Space Marines in that trailer.”
In November last year, Games Workshop revealed animation work on a monitor screen via the promo video, below, that showed a squad of Terminators appearing to protect an unnamed human soldier. This was the Inquisition-led Deathwatch Terminator squad from the debut Astartes 2 teaser in incomplete form, but we know from their pauldron chapter symbols that they’re the same as before (Retributors, Mortifactors, Scythes of The Emperor, Sons of Medusa, and Angels Vermilion).
Last year’s teaser suggested an animation on a scale and quality never-before-seen from Warhammer 40,000, with melee combat, shooting, vehicle combat, and even spaceship battles all showcased. It showed a number of Space Marine chapters in battle across varied environments, and multiple enemy races, including Tyranids, Orks, and Tau.
But it turned out that nothing in the teaser is actually in the Astartes 2 animation itself. According to a post on the Warhammer Community website: “This teaser trailer is not actually clips from the new animation, instead showing a compilation of shots that represent the former lives of the characters that will appear in the show. There’s a pretty unsubtle hint at the end as to the nature of the final story… We’ll leave you to speculate and start putting the pieces together yourselves.”
Astartes II is due out this December on Warhammer+, Games Workshop’s streaming service.
Wesley Yin-Poole
Director, News
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].