The Witcher season 4: cast, plot and everything we know

The Witcher season 4 sees a big change coming to the Continent; Henry Cavill has bowed out of Netflix's flagship fantasy series, and a new star is picking up his swords.

"As a Witcher fan, I’m over the moon about the opportunity to play Geralt of Rivia", Hemsworth said in a statement. "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. Henry, I’ve been a fan of yours for years and was inspired by what you brought to this beloved character. I may have some big boots to fill, but I’m truly excited to be stepping into The Witcher world.”

We don't have too much info about the monster hunter's forthcoming adventure so far, save for some more casting news and a plot synopsis. However, thanks to a new announcement from Netflix, we know that production is underway on the next chapter in the adventure, and we now know that this will be the penultimate entry in the franchise. This will hopefully help steer one of the best shows on Netflix towards fitting conclusion! 

Here's everything we know about The Witcher season 4 right now...

The Witcher season 4 release date

As of our latest update, we still don't have a confirmed release date for The Witcher season 4. However, we do know that production has started! 

Netflix confirmed that production has finally gotten underway on the series on April 18, and revealed that the fourth installment would film back-to-back with season 5. 

Whilst we wait for more information about season 4, check out our round-ups of the best fantasy shows and the best fantasy shows on Netflix if you're looking for something else to keep you entertained. 

The Witcher season 4 cast

Aside from Cavill, the rest of our major stars are expected to return for The Witcher season 4. We'll be seeing more from Anya Chalotra (Yennefer of Vengerburg), Freya Allan as Ciri, and Joey Batey (Jaskier).

In addition, we also expect we'll be seeing more from the likes of Dijkstra (Graham McTavish), Phillipa (Cassie Clare), Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu), Cahir (Eamon Farren), Triss (Anna Shaffer), Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen), among others, and we expect season 3 newcomers like Hugh Skinner (Radovid), Emhyr (Bart Edwards) and Meng'er Zhang's Milva to make a comeback to the franchise, too.

There's also "The Rats", the violent gang of outcasts whom Ciri came across in the previous season finale who will doubtless be part of the show going forward. They are: Kayleigh (Fabian McCallum) Giselher (Ben Radcliffe), Mistle (Christelle Elwin), Iskra (Aggy K. Adams), Reef (Juliette Alexandra), and Asse (Connor Crawford). 

A big new addition to the franchise was confirmed back in January, as Netflix revealed that John Wick and The Matrix star Laurence Fishburne had boarded the show. He's playing a fan-favorite character: Regis (or to give him his full title, Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy). 

We won't spoil who Regis is or why he's an important figure. Netflix has chosen to keep his role relatively hidden, too, describing Regis solely as 'a world-wise barber-surgeon with a mysterious past' who joins Geralt on his journey. 

In April, Variety revealed several new stars had joined the show. District 9, Free Fire and Monkey Man star Sharlto Copley leads the way as the infamous skilled swordsman and bounty hunter, Leo Bonhart. Meanwhile, James Purefoy (Rome, The Following) is on hand as Skellen, a high-ranking spy and court advisor to Emperor Emhyr, whilst Danny Woodburn (Seinfeld, Monk, Bones) will play Zoltan, a dwarf who is a close friend to Geralt.

The Witcher season 4 plot

Netflix's synopsis for The Witcher season 4 hints that the new series will see our main trio trying to survive an impending trial, all with the hope of being reunited once again. 

It reads: "After the shocking, Continent-altering events that close out season three, the new season follows Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri who are face with traversing the war-ravaged Continent and its many demons apart from each other. If they can embrace and lead the group of misfits they find themselves in, they have a chance of surviving the baptism of fire - and finding one another again."

With that specific hint at the end and how the story has gone thus far, we presumed that The Witcher season 4 will draw primarily from the third of Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher novels, Baptism of Fire, though following a big new announcement about the show's future, it sounds like it will also draw threads from later books in the series, too.

• How to read The Witcher books in order

Is there a The Witcher season 4 trailer yet?

Nope! There's no trailer for the series as of yet, and it'll likely be some time before one arrives. 

Will there be a fifth season of The Witcher?

There's good news and bad news here. In mid-April, Netflix confirmed that we would be getting The Witcher season 5. It will film back-to-back with season 4, meaning we probably won't have to wait too long between seasons to continue following Geralt's adventures.

The bad news? Netflix has also confirmed that The Witcher season 5 will be the show's last. The remaining two seasons will adapt the last three books in Sapkowski's series (Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow and Lady of the Lake) and will offer 'an epic and satisfying conclusion' to the fantasy sage, Netflix said in a statement. 

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said: "It is with huge pride that we begin shooting our penultimate season of The Witcher with a stellar cast, including some exciting new addtions, led by Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia. 

"We're thrilled to be able to bring Andrzej Sapkowski's books to an epic and satisfying concludion. 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."