'The Witcher: Blood Origin': Trailer, Release Date, and Cast

By Michael Hein

Fans can finally go back to the Continent next month in The Witcher: Blood Origin. The spinoff series premieres on Sunday, Dec. 25, Netflix has confirmed. Even as the day draws closer, some details on the show are still scarce, so here's a look at all the news we have about it so far.

The Witcher is one of the most successful Netflix original series to date, and as a massive fantasy IP, it was only a matter of time before it began to expand. Blood Origin will be a live-action limited series with just six episodes, set in about 1,200 years before the events of the main series. It is not based on material from the books, but is an original story describing the magical event known as "The Conjunction of the Spheres." It is written by Witcher screenwriter Declan de Barra.

Netflix has been slow and judicious in providing details about Blood Origin, but with the premiere fast approaching, we finally have some information to go over. Here's what we know about the upcoming fantasy series right now.

Release Date

Netflix announced that Blood Origin will premiere on Christmas Day during one of its TUDUM virtual fan events in September. This came after months of uncertainty and speculation. Last year, Netflix has said that Blood Origin was coming sometime in 2022. Many fans hoped it would be released earlier in the year, leaving room for The Witcher Season 3 to premiere in December as the previous seasons have.

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Casting

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(Photo: Courtesy of Netflix)

Casting Blood Origin was a bit of an ordeal, with actors announced slowly over time and one major star leaving before production even got started. We now know for sure that the show will star Sophia Brown, Laurence O'Fuarain and Michelle Yeoh. In September, Netflix announced that Minnie Driver had also joined the cast in an unspecified role. Other stars include Lenny Henry, Mirren Mack, Nathaniel Curtis, Dylan Moran, Jacob Collins-Levy, Lizzie Annis, Huw Novelli, Francesca Mills, Amy Murray, Zach Wyatt, Aidan O'Callaghan, Carlina Grace-Paseda, Kim Adis, Sorcha Groundsell, Hebe Beardsall, Tomisin Ajani, Zachary Hart, Jordan Whitby and Daniel Boyarsky.

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Scripts

De Barra wrote all six scripts for Blood Origin himself. The writer posted a photo of his pages stacked up back in March of 2021. Since this show is planned as a limited series, it will likely have a very different narrative structure from the main series.

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Production Status

De Barra announced that Blood Origin had wrapped filming back in November of 2021. Typically, post-production on a show with this much action and VFX takes a minimum of six months, so fans have been speculating about possible release dates ever since then.

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Canon

Blood Origin is unique because it will be original material, not drawn from The Witcher Saga novels by author Andrzej Sapkowski. However, when asked by a fan, Hissrich confirmed that Sapkowski is involved in the production, so we can rest assured that everything here is approved by the original creator.

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Characters: Fjall

We also have brief descriptions for the main characters in Blood Origin so far. Because the show goes so far back into time, these characters will be brand new to everyone, but Netflix is helping fans get to know them early. First up is Fjall, a human warrior played by O'Fuarain, who will reportedly be the lead protagonist.

"Born into a clan of warriors sworn to protect a King, Fjall carries a deep scar within, the death of a loved one who fell in battle trying to save him," Netflix's intro reads. "A scar that won't let him settle, or make peace with himself or the world around him. In his quest for redemption, Fjall will find himself fighting beside the most unlikely of allies as he carves a path of vengeance across a continent in turmoil."

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Characters: Éile

Brown will play an elf named Éile, described by Netflix as: "An elite warrior with the voice of a goddess, her career as a nomadic musician gets cut short due to a grand reckoning on the Continent." A further description later added: "Éile, an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess, has left her clan and position as Queen's guardian to follow her heart as a nomadic musician. A grand reckoning on the continent forces her to return to the way of the blade in her quest for vengeance and redemption."

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Characters: Scían

Yeoh will play an elf as well, and one more suited for the battle scenes The Witcher franchise is known for. Her character's description reads: "Scían is the very last of her nomadic tribe of sword-elves. No one can come close to her artistry with the blade, and no one carries as much loss within their heart. When a chance presents itself to retrieve a stolen sacred sword, taken from her fallen tribe by nefarious means, she launches herself into a deadly quest that will change the outcome of the Continent."

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