'The Witcher' Reveals New Cast Members in Wake of Henry Cavill's Exit

The fantasy series has several new characters joining the ensemble this season.

By Michael Hein

Netflix just revealed several new cast members joining The Witcher Season 4. With war heating up on The Continent, we will need perspectives on the side of Nilfgaard, and That's what we'll get from James Purefoy, Tom Benedict Knight and Andrew French – according to a report by Redanian Intelligence. Read on for more details but fair warning: there are spoilers ahead!

The Witcher is facing some major changes in Season 4, with star Henry Cavill departing to be replaced with Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia. The show began shooting back in April, and we learned that Purefoy joined the cast as the Nilfgaardian spy Stefan Skellen – a.k.a. "Tawny Owl." He will be an interesting character to explore the mindset of Nilfgaardian people who may be skeptical of the empire's totalitarian policies. Witcher fans have likely seen Purefoy before in shows like Rome, Altered Carbon and Pennyworth, among many other credits.

Next up, Knight plays General Ardal aep Dahy, a nobleman from Nilfgaard with plenty of political weight to throw around. However, Dahy and the other noblemen are also growing less enthusiastic about the war effort as it is spreading their resources thin, with little sign of a big payoff. Knight is best known for his role as Angel in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but he is no stranger to the fantasy genre with a credit in the 2014 cult classic Dracula Untold to his name.

Finally, French will play an associate of Skellen named Rispat La Pointe, but he is not technically from the empire of Nilfgaard. Instead, La Pointe comes from a kingdom called Gemmera which Nilfgaard had already conquered before the series began, giving him yet another unique perspective on this war. French has a strong background in action and horror productions, which will lend nicely to The Witcher as the action is ramping up.

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The Witcher is an adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's novel series The Witcher Saga, which were first published in Polish starting in the 1990s and were translated into English starting in 2007. However, fans' expectations of the Netflix original series are also closely tied to the video game adaptations by CD Projekt Red, which also began in 2007. The show has taken a lot of criticism for its divergence from the books, but in many cases those critiques have been lost in a social media environment dominated with concerns about "identity politics" and "culture wars."

The Witcher is streaming now on Netflix, with three seasons out as well as a spinoff prequel series and an animated prequel film. Three RPG video games are available now on various platforms, and Sapkowski's books are available in print, digital and audiobook formats. The Witcher Season 4 has no official release date yet, but after filming throughout the summer, fans are expecting an announcement any time now.

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