One of the most highly anticipated Netflix releases of the near future is the Henry Cavill-led adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's fantasy novel (and more) series The Witcher. The project has been chugging along for a couple of years now, with a surprising lack of visual evidence making its way to the public eye outside of early social media posts.
That all changes today, though, now that Netflix has at last revealed the official first looks for Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia, for Anya Cholatra's Yennefer and for Freya Allan's Ciri. Let's go through each of them below.
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia
Following his five-year tenure as Clark Kent and Superman for the DCEU, Henry Cavill signed on for his second big TV role with The Witcher, and I gotta say, he looks quite a bit more intimidating as Geralt than he did as Charles Brandon on Showtime's The Tudors. The shot above doesn't do much to give newcomers an idea of what to expect from The Witcher's protagonist, but then the whole "long-haired Henry Cavill with a sword" aesthetic kind of overrides perfunctory plot teases.
The Witcher, which wrapped production at the end of May, will be focused on Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter who lives a solitary life in a land (dubbed the Continent) where the line of separation between humans and beasts is thinning. When Geralt crosses paths with a mighty sorceress and a young princess, however, he teams with them to face the increasingly dangerous Continent, where werewolves, halflings and more creatures reside.
Below is a more up-close shot of Henry Cavill's wicked warrior.
Henry Cavill isn't the Man of Steel anymore, but he's certainly the man of something else in The Witcher, and I can already picture fans going gaga for the character they way they did for the vaguely comparable-looking characters on Game of Thrones. I wonder if doing this show precludes Cavill from ever taking on a role in any GoT prequels down the road. I also wonder if we're going to see Cavill growing a beard in the show's future.
Anya Chalotra as Yennefer
A rising star with Wanderlust, The ABC Murders and Sherwood as her first trio of TV roles, Anya Chalotra potentially landed one of the biggest gig of her life with The Witcher. Chalotra will be playing the sorceress Yennefer, who also serves as Geralt's soul mate and lover through much of the saga.
I'm digging the fur look that Anya Chalotra's Yennefer is rocking above, knowing full well I could never pull it off. Plus, Chalotra is keeping it just as stoic in the shot below.
Similar to how not very much has been revealed about what fans can expect from Henry Cavill's Geralt, there has been next to nothing said about Yennefer as far as how close the character will be to the version from the books. (Some fans have taken to criticizing The Witcher for not adhering to the video games, though the books were always the sole source material.)
Freya Allan as Ciri
And then there was one: Freya Allan's Ciri, a princess of the kingdom of Cintra, and one who had quite a complicated upbringing. Having learned early of her destiny to be a witcher in Geralt's stead, Ciri is trained by the Butcher of Blaviken and joins him in his quests.
For the most part, Ciri is something of a daughter to Geralt and Yennefer, though their relationships aren't quite so cut and dry. Especially once it's discovered that Ciri has some fantastical talents up her sleeves.
With her piercing eyes, Freya Allan's Ciri will be one of many interesting things to watch whenever The Witcher makes its way to the small screen.
The Witcher is being handled by showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who has been a writer and producer on other Netflix series such as Daredevil and The Umbrella Academy. The fantasy drama will also star Gentleman Jack's Jodhi May, Fortitude's Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, A.D. The Bible Continues' Adam Levy, the Twilight franchise's MyAnna Buring, Mr. Selfridge's Mimi Ndiweni and more.
At this point, The Witcher doesn't yet have a release date on Netflix for fans to mark on their calendars, but we will almost definitely hear something more concrete during the show's Comic-Con panel, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more details as they're revealed.
