Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Witcher' Prequel

Netflix is creating a 'Witcher' cinematic universe with 'The Witcher: Blood Origin.'

Laurence O'Fuarain and michelle yeoh in witcher blood origin
Laurence O'Fuarain, Sophia Brown, and Michelle Yeoh | Netflix
Laurence O'Fuarain, Sophia Brown, and Michelle Yeoh | Netflix

With the roaring success of The Witcher, Netflix's series based on the bestselling Polish fantasy novels that inspired a series of video games, it was only a matter of time before the streaming service capitalized on viewers' love for all things Geralt of Rivia. An anime film, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, about Geralt's Witcher mentor Vesemir, already came out, a third season is already confirmed, and Netflix has also announced that they're working on a prequel series, titled The Witcher: Blood Origin, which will tell the story of the Continent's very first Witcher. Here is everything we know about it so far.

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When is The Witcher: Blood Origin coming out?

Netflix first announced the show in July of 2020, and in fall 2021 it officially started production. You can see some table read footage as well as location scouting in Iceland in showrunner Declan de Barra's tour of the set

At the close of Season 2 of The Witcher, fans were treated to a little sneak peek of the new series in a teaser (which you can see above) that promises plenty of sword fights, magic, and Witcher-y adventure. The only release date news so far is that it's coming sometime in 2022, so keep your eyes peeled for more news on that front in the coming months. 

witcher blood origin cast
Netflix

What is the plot?

The official summary of the limited series is as follows: "Set in an elven world 1,200 years before the world of The Witcher, Blood Origin will tell a story lost to time—the origin of the very first Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal 'conjunction of the spheres,' when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one."

The world of The Witcher, set on a landmass known as "the Continent," used to be separated into a few distinct realms, or parallel universes, home to many different sentient races. During the Conjunction of the Spheres, the worlds were all mashed together into one, bringing elves and monsters and magic into the world of humanity. The very first Witcher was created (as Geralt of Rivia was created) to hunt down and kill the unnatural monsters from these other worlds that terrorize the people of the Continent. 

Lenny Henry in witcher blood origin
Lenny Henry | Netflix

Who is in the cast?

British actress Sophia Brown will be playing Éile, "an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess," who quit her job as the Queen's bodyguard in order to pursue a nomadic music career until a catastrophe on the Continent calls her back to service. Vikings actor Laurence O'Fuarain has also joined the cast as Fjall, a warrior and king's bodyguard who's seeking redemption from a tragedy in his past, after losing a loved one who died to save him. 

Michelle Yeoh has also been cast as Scian, Sir Lenny Henry as Balor, and Dylan Moran (Black Books fans, where you at!?!?) as Uthrok One-Nut. 

You might also remember that Jason Momoa was rumored to have joined the cast, with the actor even posting fanart of himself in costume next to Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, but that rumor hasn't been confirmed. Fingers crossed! (Cavill, obviously, will not star in this prequel series.) 

Who else is involved? 

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, the showrunner of The Witcher, will be an executive producer; Declan de Barra, who wrote, produced, and even contributed his singing talents to a few episodes of The Witcher, will showrun this miniseries; and Andrzej Sapkowski, the author of the book series The Witcher is based on, will be a creative consultant.

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Emma Stefansky is a staff entertainment writer at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @stefabsky.