Netflix Reveals First Look at Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher

Some additional casting details have also been announced.

By Chris Morse

In the first preview footage for the upcoming adaptation of The Witcher, Netflix has given fans a first look at Henry Cavill's appearance in the starring role of Geralt of Rivia. Earlier today, the preview video was revealed in a social media post on the official Netflix account, which you can view below.

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As we already know, the upcoming television series is based on the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, which served as the source material for the video games. Fans of the latter might be a little disappointed that Geralt is beardless, but that's what the character always preferred in the books, much like his appearance in the first two games of the trilogy.

Another part of this worth commenting on is that this early preview is not likely going to be his final, polished appearance. We can expect some post-production work to be done with respect to his scars, which may happen more and more as the series goes on.

Otherwise, we have a very stoic-looking Cavill with a straight, white-haired look that certainly matches the character's description. So far, it looks fairly decent, even with the Legolas comparisons some fans are making, but the scars should help once we move beyond the make-up and costume testing stage of the character. Either way, this look bears a close resemblance to how the character is described in Sapkowski's work, so this is quite exciting regardless.

In addition to the above preview, more casting details have been announced, including Jaskier, who is known as Dandelion in the video game series, as well as Triss Merigold! The series has added Eamon Farren (The ABC Murders, Twin Peaks) as Cahir, Joey Batey (Knightfall, Strike) as Jaskier, Lars Mikkelsen (House of Cards, Sherlock) as Stregobor, Royce Pierreson (Wanderlust, Judy) as Istredd, Maciej Musiał (1983) as Sir Lazlo, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte (Jamillah & Aladdin, Dickensian) as Dara, and Anna Shaffer (Harry Potter series) as Triss.

Additional casting includes Rebecca Benson as Marilka, Shane Attwooll as Nohorn, Luke Neal as Vyr, Matthew Neal as Nimir, Tobi Bamtefa as Danek, Sonny Serkis as Martin, Roderick Hill as Fletcher, Inge Beckmann as Aridea, Charlotte O’Leary as Tiffania, Natasha Culzac as Toruviel, Amit Shah as Torque, and Tom Canton as Filavandrel.

According to writer and showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich, it's a big, big Witcher world. It sure looks like it.

In The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.

Henry Cavill will play the starring role of Geralt of Rivia while the cast also includes Jodhi May (Game of Thrones, Genius) as Queen Calanthe, Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson (Fortitude) as her Calanthe's husband, the knight Eist, Adam Levy (Knightfall, Snatch) as the druid Mousesack, MyAnna Buring as Tissaia, Mimi Ndiweni and Therica Wilson-Read as novice sorcerers, and Millie Brady as Princess Renfri.

In addition, Eamon Farren (The ABC Murders, Twin Peaks) will star as Cahir, Joey Batey (Knightfall, Strike) as Jaskier, Lars Mikkelsen (House of Cards, Sherlock) as Stregobor, Royce Pierreson (Wanderlust, Judy) as Istredd, Maciej Musiał (1983) as Sir Lazlo, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte (Jamillah & Aladdin, Dickensian) as Dara, and Anna Shaffer (Harry Potter series) as Triss.

With production on its first season set to begin soon, The Witcher will make its premiere on Netflix sometime in 2019. We'll have more updates here on Dead Entertainment when filming is underway.

About the Author

Chris Morse

Programmer by day, writer by night. Having grown up surrounded by plenty of horror movies and video games, it only made sense for Chris to combine all of these passions into one place: Dead Entertainment. Whether he's working on designs, tinkering with the platform, or just writing up the latest horror news, he's sure to be hard at work keeping the wheels turning on this website no matter what time of day it is. When not coding or gaming, you can find him donning a Cheesehead and heading to the Midwest to cheer on his favorite NFL team, the Green Bay Packers. #GoPackGo