Witcher Spin-Off, Blood Origin, Gets Lead Actor

If you are like me, firstly, you should delete your internet history, you pervert; Secondly, you enjoy a little too much of The Witcher. It is something a majority of us discovered back in 2015 upon the release of CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This was back when they could release a game that was, at least, finished. Since then, many of us have gone on to pick up Andrzej Sapkowski’s books of which the games are loosely based-on, something that can also be attributed to the Netflix series of the same name.

Well, much like the MCU, Whoniverse, Star Wars, and Star Trek series before it, the Netflix series has an extended universe following quickly behind to over-saturate the market. I am not saying that I am not up for more of the cat-eyed people and raven-hair enchantress that I love dearly, just that we’ve got lots of Witcher to come. One of the few spin-offs already announced for the streaming platform is the prequel series, Blood Origin, which has just gotten its lead actor.

🐺 WITCHER NEWS ALERT 🐺

The first cast for The Witcher: Blood Origin has been announced. Jodie Turner-Smith will play Éile, a fierce warrior with the voice of a goddess.

The limited series will tell the story of the first Witcher prototype and the Conjunction of the Spheres. pic.twitter.com/wTltgArMW7

— NX (@NXOnNetflix) January 25, 2021

The actor and model, Jodie Turner-Smith, is set to take up the role of Éile, according to the Netflix news-based Twitter account announcing Turner-Smith’s casting. She is possibly best known for her role in 2019’s Queen & Slim alongside Get Out actor and Doctor Who alum, Daniel Kaluuya. With TV roles in True Blood and Mad Dogs, with a recurring role in The Last Ship. Éile will be the lead in the six-part live-action series set 1200-years before Geralt’s adventures known of in the main series, books, and games.

For those of us without a degree in high fantasy, the fandom wiki for the series notes that the setting of the Conjunction of the Spheres is where all the monsters of other dimensions spilled into the series’ setting of Novigrad and elsewhere. Noting that this was when “the collision of several parallel universes” led to monsters trapped outside of their home universes, and thus, the witchers were later created to hunt down and kill unruly beasts. It is also said that Sapkowski is consulting creatively on the series (along with other Witcher projects by Netlfix), meaning series purists can rest easy.

Either way, I am sure many of us awaiting the second series of the Henry Cavill-led series will be happy to have more Witcher wherever we can get it. Speaking of the Cavill-led series, the last we heard was that it was put on hold back in December, back when the actor injured himself during filming. Though that’s not all, as in December, Netflix noted the animated movie called “Nightmare of the Wolf,” featuring a 2021 release penned for it.