British actor Henry Cavill will headline the upcoming Netflix drama The Witcher, the streaming giant announced on Tuesday.
Based on Polish novelist Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy series of the same name, the eight-episode show will revolve around Geralt of Rivia, a witcher who is trained to battle monsters but “struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts”, according to Netflix’s press release.
Showrunner and executive producer Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said on Twitter that Cavill was the right fit for Geralt.
This is Cavill’s first television role in close to 10 years, after The Tudors (2007-2010). He was last seen in Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018).
He was my first meeting. I didn’t have writers or scripts yet – just a greenlight and a lot of passion. That was four months ago, and I’ve never forgotten the passion he brought. He IS Geralt. He always has been. I’m so thrilled to welcome HENRY CAVILL to the #Witcher family.
— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) September 4, 2018
Sapkowski will serve as creative consultant on the series, which will be directed by Alik Sakharov (House of Cards, Game of Thrones), Alex Garcia Lopez (Fear The Walking Dead) and Charlotte Brandstrom (Outlander). The release date and other cast members are yet to be announced.
Sapkowski has authored several novels and short story collections in The Witcher anthology series between 1993 and 2013, including The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny, Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow and The Lady of the Lake. Originally in Polish, the books have been translated into more than 20 languages.
The series has been adapted into a video game and comic books. A film and television series based on the books, Marek Brodzki’s The Hexer, was released in 2001-’02. Both the adaptations were reportedly criticised by Sapkowski for failing to capture the spirit of his novels.