The Witcher franchise really is a valley of plenty these days. Between the anime prequel, and the many, many spinoffs currently in production, the world created by Andrzej Sapkowski seems to grow bigger and bigger each day.
But of course, all eyes remain firmly fixed on Henry Cavill’s flagship show, and not just because Geralt is easy on the eyes. The good news then is that before season two even arrived, Netflix already confirmed that season three is officially on its way as well. And on top of that, season four has also been confirmed now too, though with a big casting change to boot. More on that later…
The Witcher Season 3 Volume 2 Trailer
Back to season three, that announcement came as part of Netflix’s TUDUM event in September 2021, but now that some time has passed since then, there’s plenty more news to share on season three. So grab your loyal steed and all the coins you can carry, as we head back into the Continent and find out what’s coming next in The Witcher season three.
The Witcher Season 3 Trailer
The Witcher season 3 potential release date: When will it air?
Ring the bells! The Witcher season three release date has been announced.
On the show’s official Twitter account, it was announced that volume one of the third season of the show will land on Netflix on June 29, 2023, with volume two set to drop on the platform on July 27, 2023.
Along with the first trailer, they tweeted: “This summer, everything changes. The Witcher Season 3 begins on the 29th of June.”
While speaking to showrunner Lauren S Hissrich in November 2021, Digital Spy learned that the writers’ room had already begun work on scripts for season three.
“The writers’ room this season is incredible. I mean, we’ve always had incredible writers on the show,” Lauren said. “
But I feel that this season specifically had… We had some new people come in, and it was really interesting how it changed the dynamic of the room, to have this sort of new blood: people who have watched the first season, who then had screened the second season, and came in with fresh, new ideas, who sort of challenged me on things that I hadn’t really thought about before.
The Witcher season 3 cast: Who’s in it?
Henry Cavill will be in season three (for now) alongside our faves that have made the show what it is.
• Freya Allan as Cirilla (aka Ciri)
• Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg
• Joey Batey as Jaskier
• Royce Pierreson as Istredd
• Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold
• Kim Bodnia as Vesemir
However, Netflix shocked fans worldwide in late October 2022, when it announced that Henry Cavill will be replaced as Geralt in season four by Liam Hemsworth.
In a statement shared that day, Cavill said: “My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for season four.
“In my stead, the fantastic Mr Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men.
“Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find.”
It’s currently unknown why Henry Cavill is stepping away from The Witcher, although initial rumours suggested his intended return as Superman in the DC movies might have played a big role in his decision. Let’s hope not, as that’s no longer happening.
But whatever the case might be, this won’t impact season three too much from the looks of it. And it sounds like Cavill’s final season will give him the ending his commitment to the character deserves.
“What is so interesting is that season three, to me, is the closest thing that we’ve done as a one-to-one adaptation of the books,” showrunner Lauren Hissrich said (via EW).
“Obviously, we can’t do every page, but Time of Contempt gave us so many big action events, plot points, defining character moments, huge reveals of a big bad. There’s so much to do that we were able to stick really, really closely with the books.
“Geralt’s big turn is about giving up neutrality and doing anything that he has to do to get to Ciri. And to me, it’s the most heroic sendoff that we could have, even though it wasn’t written to be that.
“Geralt has a new mission in mind when we come back to him in season four. He’s a slightly different Geralt than we expected. Now, by the way, that’s an understatement.”
So, who else is returning for another round in Henry Cavill’s final turn as Geralt?
If you’ve binged season two of The Witcher right to the very end, you’ll also know that Ciri’s father, Emhyr, comes back from the dead, so to speak. Bart Edwards will play a major role as season three’s Big Bad, if that ominous season two ending is anything to go by.
As the alliance between Nilfgaard and the elves grows more tense, expect to see characters from this conflict return, not to mention the mages as well. So that means Mimi Ndiweni (Fringilla), Media Simson (Francesa), Mahesh Jadu (Vilgefortz), and MyAnna Buring (Tissaia) will all probably return for another go of things in season three.
As season three began filming, a number of new cast additions were confirmed – including some familiar faces from other big franchises.
So far, this includes:
• The Flash‘s Robbie Amell as Gallatin, who leads an army of guerrilla Scoia’tael fighting for Nilfgaard.
• Shang-Chi‘s Meng’er Zhang as Milva, a fierce and talented human huntress adopted by the dryads of Brokilon Forest, who also has incredible archery skills and a strong survival instinct.
• Fleabag‘s Hugh Skinner as King Vizimir’s (Ed Birch) playboy brother Prince Radovid. The press release states: “With his good looks and drunken charm, Radovid amazes with how incisive he can be in political affairs, but it’s all games until someone gets hurt.”
• Bloods’ Christell Elwin as Mistle, a member of teenage misfit gang The Rats who is suspicious and out for revenge – though a chance meeting changes everything.
