“The Witcher” has begun production for season 2 — adding new cast members to Netflix’s mega-hit.
The streamer’s answer to “Game of Thrones” stars Henry Cavill (“The Tudors,” “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice”) as Geralt of Rivia, a monster mercenary for hire. Witchers are beast hunters who develop supernatural abilities to battle these creatures.
The second season will have eight episodes and debuts in 2021, though the premiere date has yet to been determined.
New cast members include Yasen Atour (“Young Wallender”) Agnes Bjorn, Paul Bullion (“Peaky Blinders”), Thue Ersted Rasmussen (“Fast and Furious 9”), Aisha Fabienne Ross (“The Danish Girl”) and Kristofer Hivju (“Game of Thrones”) as Nivellen. Anya Chalotra returns as the sorceress Yennefer, so does Freya Allan as Ciri and Joey Batey as Jaskier.
Also in the works, Netflix announced last month the anime film “The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf” is in development. “Witcher” showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and writer Beau DeMayo are overseeing the spinoff. Netflix said it would expand the series “by exploring a powerful new threat facing the Continent.”
So successful was “The Witcher,” which debuted Dec. 20, Parrot Analytics reported it beat out Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” as the top global series the last week of 2019. Parrot Analytics’ calculated “demand expressions,” which measures engagement and viewership. “Witcher” grabbed 127 million vs. 115 million for “The Mandalorian.”
“Witcher” is based on a book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, who serves as a creative consultant.