‘The Witcher’ to end with Season 5 on Netflix

Netflix has renewed its fantasy series “The Witcher” for a fifth and final season.

The series just began production on Season 4, the streamer announced Thursday. The upcoming two seasons will be the first to feature Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia, the lead character that Henry Cavill played for the first three seasons.

Seasons 4 and 5 will be filmed back to back. Release dates have not been announced.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich created “The Witcher” in 2019, based on the fantasy novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski. Hissrich also serves as the showrunner and executive producer.

Television

Meet the unlikely pair behind Netflix’s crack at the next ‘Game of Thrones’

Henry Cavill and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich discuss Netflix’s spin on the fantasy book series “The Witcher,” which has also spawned a video game franchise.

Dec. 19, 2019

“It is with huge pride that we begin shooting our penultimate season of ‘The Witcher’ with a stellar cast, including some exciting new additions, led by Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia,” Hissrich said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be able to bring Andrzej Sapkowski’s books to an epic and satisfying conclusion. It wouldn’t be our show if we didn’t push our family of characters to their absolute limit — stay tuned to see how the story ends.”

Netflix posted a video on X featuring clips from the cast’s table read for Season 4, which will follow the characters as they try to survive in their war-torn world and reunite after being separated at the end of Season 3.

The fourth and fifth seasons will adapt Sapkowski’s remaining books that the series hasn’t touched on yet, including “Baptism of Fire,” “The Tower of the Swallow” and “Lady of the Lake.” Netflix said in a statement that the upcoming seasons promise “to offer an epic and satisfying conclusion to Netflix’s hit fantasy drama.”

When Netflix announced in 2022 that Hemsworth would be replacing Cavill on the series, Hemsworth said he was a fan of both his fellow actor and the show.

“I’m over the moon about the opportunity to play Geralt of Rivia,” he said in a statement in October 2022. “Henry Cavill has been an incredible Geralt, and I’m honored that he’s handing me the reins and allowing me to take up the White Wolf’s blades for the next chapter of his adventure.”

Laurence Fishburne will be another new addition to the series in the fourth season. “The Matrix” actor will play Regis, a wise barber-surgeon who is beloved among fans of the books. Fishburne said in a statement that he was eager to be “exploring the wondrous world” of the series. Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, Freya Allan as Cirilla and Joey Batey as Jaskier also star on the series.