The Witcher may not be back for Season 2 for quite a while, but Netflix has a movie in the works to keep fans hooked. When Netflix announced The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf as an animated movie, the streamer held back on identifying whether the main character would be one of the Season 1 leads or somebody else entirely. Well, it turns out the movie will star a character from Andrzej Sapkowski's books who Mark Hamill has expressed interest in!
First, let's look at the role and why it could be a good fit for the legendary Star Wars actor.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will focus on the witcher Vesemir, who was Geralt's mentor when he underwent his journey into becoming a witcher. According to the Netflix description, Vesemir's own journey starts when a mysterious person by the name of Deglan claims him via the Law of Surprise. Since the Law of Surprise is what tied Geralt and Ciri's destinies together despite the best efforts of more than one individual, The Witcher fans already know that it's a pretty big deal in the Witcher universe.
Vesemir was briefly mentioned toward the end of The Witcher Season 1 while Geralt was recovering from his latest grievous injury, when Geralt informed his long-absent mother that Vesemir is the one who named him. Vesemir's single line of dialogue came from actor Theo James of Divergent and Sanditon, and he didn't appear on screen, so the role isn't already definitively cast.
Book readers know that Vesemir was the oldest and most experienced witcher by the time the saga begins. So, what does all of this have to do with Mark Hamill? When a Witcher fan pitched Mark Hamill as somebody who should play Vesemir on the show on Twitter, Mark Hamill shared this reply all the way back in 2018:
Was Mark Hamill altogether serious about playing Vesemir on The Witcher? Probably not, considering he knew nothing about the character or project and his response was actually pretty funny. Still, the response got a lot of attention online, and what better way for Hamill to give the role a shot than with an animated movie?
Already legendary as a voice actor for his role as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and other projects, Mark Hamill could undoubtedly handle whatever The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf threw at him, and it would immerse him in the Witcher world without requiring him to commit to the role in live-action right off the bat.
Mark Hamill has proven will to perform on the small screen in live-action as well, as shown via his role on Knightfall and upcoming appearance on What We Do in the Shadows. Then, of course, there are The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich's comments to IGN about Hamill's tweet and him potentially joining the series:
It was one of those first Witcher moments for me where I was like, ‘oh my God, is this even possible? That Mark Hamill knows what this is and would be interested in doing that?' Mark has always been of interest to me and interest to the project. We have not contacted his agent yet because we’re not casting the role quite yet, but that being said, I am loving what’s happening on the internet. And I’m loving all of the fan reaction to it. Obviously, we’ve seen what a huge fanbase The Witcher has, and to add that to a Star Wars fanbase... it makes my mind explode a little bit.
So, Mark Hamill is on Lauren Schmidt Hissrich's radar as a potential actor for Vesemir, but as of mid-January 2020, the showrunner hasn't reached out because casting hasn't yet begun. Henry Cavill as lead of The Witcher proves that big names are welcome on the show, and who could be better than Mark Hamill?
It's worth noting that Mark Hamill weighed in on Twitter a second time about playing Vesemir, and this time, following the release of The Witcher Season 1 in December 2019:
Mark Hamill still may not have known anything about Vesemir and The Witcher the latest time he weighed in, but #CallMyAgent is certainly promising, especially when the showrunner would clearly love to have him on board. So, bring on the speculation that Hamill could voice Vesemir in The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf and/or bring the character to life in live-action for Season 2. Netflix hasn't announced when Season 2 will premiere, although it's not expected until 2021.
Hopefully the animated movie will release ahead of Season 2 so fans have something Witcher to hold them over! For now, you can rewatch the eight episodes of Season 1 streaming on Netflix. If that's not enough, there are always six Witcher novels and two short story compliations from Andrzej Sapkowski worth checking out.
