The Witcher 3 might be the best AAA release to hit the next gen consoles thus far. With a seamless combat system, opulent high fantasy visuals, immaculate voice acting and a genuinely gripping plot exalted by an almost cinematic execution, it was only a matter of time before a live action adaptation would go into production.
Thankfully, I wasn’t alone in thinking that the charming episodic approach utilized heavily in the novels and video games would best lend itself to just that – episodes; i.e a television series produced by none other than the genre juggernauts themselves, Netflix.
READ: 'The Witcher' Netflix TV Series In Development
Not much is known about the project by way of plot and the production has yet to be cast.
Assuming the main players will at least tentatively resemble the ones showcased in CD Project Red’s popular video game series (Via Screenrant, director Tomasz Bagininski did imply as much in an interview with Inn Poland last week), here are my top picks for actors I think would be perfect for the roles.
Starting with Geralt , the phlegmatic adhesive that binds this intricate band together. Whether you're taking cues from the novels or the video games, you want a Geralt that’s both stoic and jocular. He needs to speak sparingly, but be darkly humorous when he does. He also needs to balance looking like he’s in his physical prime with bearing a certain jaded exhaustion. I think Charlie Hunnam is more than capable of conveying these qualities. Look no further than his stint as Jax Teller in Fx’s Sons of Anarchy or even Arthur in Guy Ritchie’s otherwise disastrous Legend of the sword if you need any convincing that Hunnam feels right at home portraying winsome antiheroes.
Next up we got Yennifer, a character that features prominently in the novels and is sure to be center stage in the upcoming television series. Similarly to Geralt, it’s important to marry disagreeable qualities with indelible charisma-cold yet alluring, aloof yet magnetic. If this was a decade ago, before the rise of television as a formidable medium for drama and genre properties, I’d feel silly suggesting this, but Angelina Jolie would make a first-rate Yennefer. Those smoky eyes, that sort of hypnotic unnatural frame, to me screams arcane sorcerer.
We don’t know during which story the upcoming Netflix series is going to be set as that would determine Ciri’s age, which ranges from 8 to 17-years-old in the novels. Either way, I think a near perfect choice to convey juvenile master of space and time is none other than Stranger Thing’s Millie Bobby Brown. She’s got range, she bears somewhat of a resemblance to a younger version of the Cirilla we see in the Witcher 3 and she’s just the right kind of upcoming star a series like this needs.
This one is probably the most obvious, but when it comes to Vesemir you gotta go Anthony Hopkins. He’s charming, he’s cantankerous and he’s no stranger to the horror genre.
US audiences might know my pick for Emhyr Var Emreis from 2001’s Blow. In it Jordi Molla portrays drug lord Diego Delgado. There’s a certain subtle rage behind Molla’s eyes. He is self-possessed in a way that feels foul.
I saved Triss for last because, as many of you know, she’s little more than a supporting role in the Andrzej Sapkowski stories. Though given the role the game series played in introducing The Witcher to the western world, I wouldn’t be surprised if the character featured more impactfully in the upcoming Netflix series. I don’t think anyone says dotting, puppy-eyed femme fatale like Shameless star Jane Levy. She’s charming, around the same age as Merigold and even has the red hair to boot.
Executive producers Jason Brown and Sean Daniel, who previously worked on The Expanse, are working together with Andrzej Sapowski to bring The Witcher to the small screens. Those that have seen The Expanse know that the two are more than comfortable crafting an unearthly supernatural fantasy world, and they seem to be pretty excited at their chance to prove it.
There is no release date at this time.
