Netflix’s The Witcher season 4 gets a magical cast upgrade with John Wick’s Laurence Fishburne

A spellbinding hire

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Acclaimed actor Laurence Fishburne has officially joined the cast ofThe Witcherseason 4.

Revealed in a press release today (January 12),Netflixconfirmed theJohn Wickstar had landed a role in the hit fantasy show’s fourth installment. Fishburne will play Regis, a fan-favorite character from Andrezj Sapkowski’sThe Witcherbook series.

In a brief statement accompanying the announcement, Fishburne – who’s also known for starring inThe Matrix’s original trilogy and multipleMarvelprojects, such asAnt-Man 2andWhat If…?season 2, said: “I’m very excited to be joining the cast and look forward to exploring the wondrous world ofThe Witcher.”

For the uninitiated, Regis is a sophisticated and wise barber-surgeon – one with a mysterious past, no less – who first featured in ‘Baptism of Fire’, the sixth of Sapkowski’s novels. Netflix is keeping Regis' role inThe Witcherseason 4’s plot firmly under wraps, with the world’sbest streaming servicesimply telling viewers that Regis will join Geralt on his journey in the show’s next installment.

There’s further good news for those of you who are still interested inThe Witcherfollowing the departure of Henry Cavill, who played Geralt in one of thebest Netflix shows' first three seasons. Indeed, Netflix confirmed the series' fourth season will enter full production in spring 2024 (that’s autumn for southern hemisphere dwellers), meaning principal photography should begin around March or April.

Lastly, the streaming giant provided a brief logline of what audiences can expect fromThe Witcherseason 4’s story. “After the shocking, Continent-altering events that close out season three, the new season follows Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri who are faced with traversing the war-ravaged Continent and its many demons apart from each other,” the synopsis reads. “If they can embrace and lead the groups of misfits they find themselves in,  they have a chance of surviving the baptism of fire – and finding one another again.”

Casting a new-look spell on Netflix’s Witcher-Verse

Fishburne won’t be the only new face we’ll see inThe Witcherseason 4. As mentioned, with Cavill walking away from one of his dream roles after the third season’s full release, Netflix had to find someone else to assume the role of Geralt. In October 2022, we learned Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) would replace Cavill as the titular character.

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Season 4 ofThe Witcherisn’t the only project in development for Netflix’s Witcher-Verse, either. Another spin-off series, which is believed to center on The Rats – the gang of misfits Ciri comes across in the season 3 finale (read ourWitcherseason 3 ending explainedarticle for more details) – has reportedly been filming for months. Meanwhile, another animated movie, titledThe Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, will see beloved Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle reprise his role as the gruff, no-nonsense warrior sometime in 2024. Cockle is famous for voicing Geralt in CD Projekt RED’sThe Witchervideo game series.

Netflix’s TV adaptation of Sapkowski’s novels has been losing its shine in recent years. Indeed, in ourreview ofThe Witcherseason 3, we said the hit Netflix show was losing its magical touch.

Add in the universally negative reviews that spin-off showThe Witcher: Blood Originwas met with in December 2022, and the streamer needs to turn its franchise’s fortunes around. It’ll hope, then, that the aforementioned spin-off projects and Fishburne’s season 4 hiring will go some way to earning back fans' trust.

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As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

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