‘The Witcher’ renewed for season 3; new anime film and kid’s series in the works
The universe of the The Witcher continues to expand.
The Henry Cavill-led epic fantasy series, based on the book series of the same, has been renewed for a third season.
Head writer and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich announced that a third season of the live-action series was in the works during Netflix’s TUDUM virtual fan event Saturday, Sept. 26.
Along with the third season, Hissrich also announced that a second anime Witcher movie is on the way, following last month's The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. Additionally, Netflix is also developing a Witcher series for kids and family .
Toss a coin to our growing Witcher universe! We can officially announce The Witcher Season 3, along with a second anime feature film, and a new Kids and Family series set in the world of The Witcher. pic.twitter.com/E032fDAXYx
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) September 25, 2021
The new anime film comes after the success of Netflix's first anime prequel, Nightmare of the Wolf, which focused on a younger Vesemir, Geralt's friend and mentor. Meanwhile, the unexpected kids and family series will be set in the Witcher universe, but with the blood and violence presumably toned down to fit a G rating.
The official renewal announcement for The Witcher season 3 comes nearly three months ahead of the second season premiere on Dec. 17 on Netflix.
Cavill returns in the lead role as Geralt of Rivia, alongside Freya Allan as Princess Ciri and Anya Chalotra who plays sorceress Yennefer. Hissrich will continue as head writer and showrunner on The Witcher season 3.
The Witcher cast also includes Eamon Farren as Nilfgaardian army commander Ceallach, Joey Batey as the bard Jaskier, MyAnna Buring as Yennefer's mentor Tissaia de Vries, Royce Pierreson as the sorcerer Istredd, Mimi Ndiweni as sorceress Fringilla Vigo, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte as Ciri's elf friend Dara, Anna Shaffer as sorceress Triss Merigold, and Mahesh Jadu as sorcerer Vilgefortz of Roggeveen.
Netflix shared a "Road to season 2" trailer to give fans a chance to catch up on what's happened in the first season so far.
Joining the cast on season 2 are Kim Bodnia (The Bridge) as Vesemir, Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) as Nivellen, Yasen Atour (Young Wallander), as Coen, Agnes Bjorn (Monster) as Vereena, Paul Bullion (Peaky Blinders) as Lambert, Basil Eidenbenz (The Athena) as Eskel, Aisha Fabienne Ross (The Danish Girl) as Lydia, Rebecca Hanssen (Tell It to the Bees) as Queen Meve, and rising star Mecia Simson as Francesca.
Other cast members include Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton) as Nenneke, Cassie Clare (What Happened to Monday) as Philippa Eilhart, Liz Carr (Abnormally Funny People) as Fenn, Graham McTavish (The Hobbit trilogy) as Sigismund Dijkstra, Kevin Doyle (Happy Valley) as Ba'lian, Simon Callow (Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Codringher, and Chris Fulton (Outlaw King) as Rience.
The new projects come on top of The Witcher: Blood Origins, the previously announced spin-off prequel live-action limited series. During Saturday's event, Netflix also showed off some new behind-the-scenes and production footage from Blood Origin, which takes place 1,200 years before the events of The Witcher.
It looks like The Witcher fans will have plenty to look forward to in the years to come. Season 2 of The Witcher will arrvive just in time for the Christmas season on Dec. 17, 2021 on Netflix.
(Images via Netflix)