When zillions of people die every other minute in the grimdark future of Warhammer 40,000, a long life is something to be feared—and no one embodies that more in Games Workshop’s esoteric lore than Luis Dante, the leader of the Blood Angels Space Marines. And after waiting a suitably long time, he’s getting quite the new upgrade.
Games Workshop announced today (a little earlier than planned) that Commander Dante is receiving a new model for the first time in decades—the current one dates back to 40K’s second edition, all the way back in the mid ’90s. But not only is Dante getting a modernized model, he’s also making a big step in the world of Space Marine lore: he’ll be undergoing the process known as the Rubicon Primaris, where older Space Marines are transformed into newer, stronger stock known as the Primaris Marines.
Games Workshop introduced the Primaris Space Marines in 2017, to coincide with the updated 8th edition of Warhammer 40K. It was an excuse to update the design language of the most popular range of models Games Workshop sells, making models that were bigger, more naturally posed, and full of increased detail. But you can’t just do that in the world of Warhammer without some lore, and so the Primaris Space Marines were introduced as a secret weapon alongside the resurrection of one of the most famous figures in the history of the Imperium of Man, Roboute Guilliman, who had been held in stasis for thousands of years in the moment of receiving a mortal wound. The Primaris were developed to be essentially Space Marines But Better: they were stronger, faster, sturdier, and more stable in their genetic enhancements than the “Firstborn” Space Marines that had been developed for generations beforehand.
Suffice to say, the Space Marines who’d been around before these shiny ones showed up wondered if there was a way to be upgraded, and it turns out there was—befitting 40K, it was an insanely over the top and brutal operation that required cracking open a Space Marine literally from head to toe, suspending their healing factor, stuffing them full of new organs, and then starting their heart back up. Fun! Anyway, that’s what Dante has now gone through, getting himself new strength and a snazzy update to his classic, standout golden armor, complete with some honestly distressingly detailed toes on his giant new booties.
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