Henry Cavill (Superman) will be leading the cast as The Witcher comes to Netflix on
Synopsis on the Witcher S01
Based on the eight-book Witcher series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, Netflix’ new series boasts Sapowski as a creative consultant. Tomas Baginski, who directed the intro videos for the acclaimed games based on the same series, will also direct at least one episode per season.
But what is The Witcher?
The Witcher follows the life and adventures of Geralt of Rivea, a witcher — a member of a group of monster-hunters who acquire extensive training and body modifications at a young age in order to battle supernatural enemies. He encounters Ciri, princess of a newly-conquered territory in the wartorn Continent, and she becomes a witcher-in-training while he struggles to protect her.
The source material includes eight novels and two collections of short stories, as well as a graphic novel series, some spin-offs written by Sapowski, and a graphic novel series.
One fan concern is the risk that Netflix might back off from the fairly gritty source material, but showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has already responded on this point:
Netflix hasn’t given out much information about which of the stories the series will focus on, though The Expanse’s Sean Daniel and Jason Brown, who are executive-producing the show, claim it will ‘follow an unconventional family that comes together to fight for truth in a dangerous world.’ Players of the Witcher games might be able to make a few educated guesses from that, as well as readers of the books. Those guesses will have to suffice until the show starts!
The Witcher Cast: Everything we know so far — including who’s playing Yennefer and Ciri
We already know that Henry Cavill will be playing Geralt. But here’s the rest of the cast list, as much as is known:
- Ciri, Princess of Cintra – Freya Allan
- Yennefer – Anya Chalotra
- Queen Calanthe – Jodhi May
- Eist – Björn Hlynur Haraldsson
- Mousesack – Adam Levy
- Tissaia – MyAnna Buring
- Fringilla – Mimi Ndiweni
- Sabrina – Therica Wilson-Read
- Princess Renfri – Millie Brady
Which networks/sites are showing it? Where can I stream it?
Characteristically, we don’t yet have a release date for The Witcher. We know filming for the first season wrapped just before Christmas last year:
Other than that, ‘2019’ is all we know!
It’s a Netflix Original, so it’s coming out on Netflix and won’t initially be available on any other streaming services. The good news is that in the era of nearly-total Netflix coverage, it’ll probably be available in all countries as soon as it comes out — and Netflix will drop all eight episodes simultaneously, so you can binge the whole thing!
If you are in a country where you find you can’t get The Witcher, or you want to open up a whole new menu of other great movies and TV shows, check out our list of the best VPNs for streaming!
