After coming in hot with its December 2019 debut on Netflix, the hit fantasy series The Witcher has had to endure a lot of stumbling blocks in order to bring fans Season 2. There were two major shutdowns last year, and a big setback for the new season when star Henry Cavill injured himself while filming a stunt in mid-December. None of that, though, has stopped the casting process for Season 2, as The Witcher seems to have now set three new cast members, with one of them playing a monarch we'll be seeing for the first time on the show.
Filming on The Witcher Season 2 sounds like it's back up and running after both the holiday break and Henry Cavill having a chance to recover from his injury, and now word has come that three new cast members have been set for the upcoming season. According to Redanian Intelligence, the series has cast Edward Rowe, Ed Birch and Julie Barclay in roles for Season 2, and Rowe is said to be playing a monarch well known to fans of both the books and video games, King Henselt.
Fans of Andrzej Sapkowski's novels, as well as those who've played the video games based on them, will recognize King Henselt as the ruler of Kaedwen, which is the largest of the Northern Kingdoms and just so happens to be the home to the Witcher fortress of Kaer Morhen, which is were Geralt was raised and trained for the School of the Wolf. Henselt loves his war and war machines, and is known for being less than well-spoken and even less sure on his feet, unless he's in battle.
Edward Rowe's casting as King Henselt marks the second new monarch, and second from the Northern Kingdoms, to be cast for Season 2 of The Witcher. Back at the end of November, it was reported that actress Rebecca Hanssen had been cast as the powerful Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia, who is known for being an important enough figure to meet regularly with the leaders of the Four Kingdoms, meaning that she would have had a lot of contact with Henselt.
Right now, Rowe is said to be playing King Henselt in one or more of the episodes which will be directed by Ed Bazalgette, and those appear to be Episodes 5 and 8. Rebecca Hanssen is also rumored to be working with Bazalgette, which means we might see a meeting of at least some of the Northern leaders during Season 2 of The Witcher. Edward Rowe only has a few filmed credits to his name right now, but he already looks the part of the gruff king, based on how he was portrayed in the games.
As for the roles of Ed Birch and Julie Barclay in the new season, it's quite a bit harder to anticipate what their characters might be doing, seeing as how there's no word right now on who either of them will be playing in Season 2. But, Birch (who's known for his work in projects like Wonder Woman 1984, The Last Kingdom, and Sherlock) is thought to be a part of one or more of the episodes directed by Stephen Surjik, which are the first two of the season, while Barclay (Broadchurch, Coronation Street, Tess of the D'Urbervilles) supposedly has yet to film any scenes for The Witcher.
It's hard to deny that it sounds as though The Witcher Season 2 is shaping up to be one hell of a ride, and all we have to do now is get it into our eyeballs. There's no word yet on the debut for the new season, or any footage from it, but to see what you can watch right now, check out our guide to early 2021 TV premieres!
