Filming on The Witcher’s second season continues apace, as Netflix has hired several new castmembers for the hit series based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy books, including one of the series’ bigger villains.
The streamer announced casting for seven new cast members appearing in the show’s second season, most of whom are playing characters from the books. These descriptions all come from the Witcher fan wiki, so these could change in minor or major ways when coming to live-action:
[referenced id=”1238186″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/08/the-witcher-season-2-images-show-the-new-reality-of-making-shows-during-a-pandemic/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/07/lu91p6jfbv5clo7xwlcq-300×168.jpg” title=”The Witcher Season 2 Images Show the New Reality of Making Shows During a Pandemic” excerpt=”Masks, shields, barriers, and a whole lot of social distancing. Netflix’s The Witcher is gearing up to resume production on season two, and already we’re getting a glimpse at what life behind the scenes will be like ” not only for Geralt of Rivia, but the future of television in…”]
- Adjoa Andoh as Nenneke — “A priestess of Melitele, and the indisputable head of the Temple of Melitele in Ellander. She knew Geralt since he was young, treated Dandelion with fond contempt and had met Yennefer on several occasions.”
- Simon Callow as Codringher and Liz Carr as Fenn — “A famous law firm and detective agency in Dorian. Codringher and Fenn and had a reputation for getting the job done — for the right price. For some time, Geralt (and probably many others) assumed that… Fenn was simply another of Codringher’s convenient aliases. But while Codringher did use other aliases, Fenn did in fact exist, though he rarely chose to be seen.”
- Cassie Clare as Phillippa Eilhart — “King Vizimir’s advisor [who] remained in Redania’s court even after his death, for which she was likely responsible. She was one of the few sorceresses able to polymorph, and was thought to be ‘no less than three hundred years old.’”
- Chris Fulton as Rience — “A mage who was instructed to find Ciri after she disappeared during the slaughter of Cintra. While powerful, he wasn’t nearly as powerful as his master, Vilgefortz.”
- Graham McTavish as Sigismund Dijkstra — “The head of Redanian Intelligence. He was a physically imposing man; nearly seven feet tall and bald, with a rather noticeable stomach that was said to give the impression of a scrubbed pig.”
- And lastly, Kevin Doyle as Ba’lian — A new character created for the TV series.
If you’re not up on your Witcher, perhaps the most interesting character here is Chris Fulton’s Rience, the aforementioned villain who plays a major role in the second and third novels, Blood of Elves and Time of Contempt. Also, Fenn seems to have undergone a genderswap for the TV series, since British actor and comedian Liz Carr (Devs, The OA) has nabbed the role. If you’d like to put faces to the names…
Friends and foes gather from across the Continent. Meet the new cast joining #TheWitcher Season 2: pic.twitter.com/0MBcZvAcze
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) March 22, 2021
The Witcher’s second season has no release date, but here’s the official synopsis, according to The Hollywood Reporter: “Convinced Yennefer’s (Anya Chalotra) life was lost at the Battle of Sodden, Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) brings Princess Cirilla (Freya Allan) to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen. While the Continent’s kings, elves, humans, and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside.”
Honestly, Netflix could have cast actual scrubbed pigs in all of the roles for all I care. I just want to see more Witcher.