Netflix has an upcoming and highly-anticipated fantasy series in The Witcher. Based on novels and short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, the story has also been turned into a popular video game.
According to Variety, Netflix plans to release The Witcher in the fourth quarter of 2019 with eight episodes. Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos is confident that this show will be a global success.
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who has worked on shows like Daredevil and The Defenders, has been tasked as the showrunner. The cast and crew are still currently filming the finale episode of the first season in Hungary with Daredevil director Marc Jobst, as per Game Rant.
The streaming giant has been previously reported to be very happy with the progress of The Witcher since it started production in October 2018. Netflix is apparently willing to greenlight the show as a multi-season release in the future.
The Witcher is headlined by Superman actor Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, a rugged and powerful monster hunter (also known as witchers) with an extensive ability to track down the rarest creatures. Geralt has a powerful sorceress as his lover and they have an adopted daughter who is a former princess with a massive secret that could impact The Continent.
Joining Cavill in The Witcher are Freya Allan as Princess Ciri and Anya Chalotra as the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg. Other cast members also include Björn Hlynur Haraldsson as King Eist, Jodhi May as Queen Calanthe, Millie Brady as Princess Renfri, Adam Levy as Mousesack, Mimi Ndiweni as Fringilla, Therica Wilson-Read as Sabrina and MyAnna Buring as Tissaia.
The Witcher will follow the stories in the novels and not the video games. To the unfamiliar, The Witcher covers a world (The Continent) where humans, dwarves, elves, and gnomes co-exist. The ruler of The Continent is the Nilfgaard Empire but it's always at war with its Northern Kingdom subjects. Ciri and her powers are vital to the new war hatching in The Continent.
Netflix has not yet released a teaser to The Witcher, however, Cavill's first photo as Geralt came out when his casting was announced in mid-2018. The actor is known to be a huge fan of the books, as well as the video games, which was partly why he got the coveted role.
During an IGN interview to promote Mission Impossible: Fallout last August 2018, Cavill expressed his love for the franchise. A few weeks later, he was cast in the Netflix series.
"The books I started reading and they are well worth the read. They're really, really good," the actor said. "The Witcher 3 I just replayed, all the way through. Love that game, really good game."
