Netflix remains on track to get the second season of their record-breaking fantasy series The Witcher out by the end of 2021. Principal cast members Henry Cavill (Zack Snyder’s Justice League), Freya Allan (The Third Day) and Anya Chalotra (Sherwood) have already announced their return to the franchise. However, host of new characters are reportedly in the mix this time around, which means viewers can except to see many new actors shining in some choice supporting roles, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Adjoa Andoh (Fractured), who stole scenes aplenty in Netflix’s Shondaland period romance Bridgerton as Lady Danbury, will play the Temple Priestess Nenneke, powerful healer who has known Geralt (Cavill) since he was a child. Andoh’s Bridgerton cast-mate Chris Fulton (Retribution) portrays Rience, an unscrupulous mage tasked with capturing Ciri (Allan). Rience engages Yennefer (Chalotra) in battle during the first novel in The Witcher book series, Blood of Elves.
Kevin Doyle (Room at the Top), best known as the bookish butler-turned-footman Molesley from the PBS costume drama Downton Abbey, is playing Ba’lian. He is allegedly courageous elven character who has never before appeared in any other Witcher media, via The Hollywood Reporter.
The two founding members of the law firm Codringher and Fenn will be brought to life onscreen by Simon Callow (A Room With View) and Liz Carr (Silent Witness). Carr wrote on her Twitter about how Fenn was her first studio part in a long while and how comfortable she felt on the set of The Witcher.
Graham McTavish (Preacher), widely known for his award-winning star voice turn as Dracula in Netflix’s Castlevania anime, joins the Witcher universe as crafty master spy Sigismund Dijkstra. In the art book for the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the developers discuss how Dijkstra defies popular assumptions about the appearance of spymasters: “Rather than a thin, rat-like individual with dark eyes staring out of a black hood, he is a strong man of nearly seven feet who prefers richly ornamented, brightly colored garb and hides an astute, enterprising mind under a somewhat sleepy face.”
Dijkstra’s one-time lover Philippa Eilhart is reportedly played by Cassie Clare (Delicious), via The Hollywood Reporter. Philippa is shape-shifting sorceress known for her cunning. In the continuity of The Witcher video game series, she is canonically bisexual, according to The Gamer. A couple of cutscenes in the second game, Assassins of Kings, allegedly feature intimate moments between Philippa and her apprentice-turned-lover Cynthia, as reported by Rock Paper Shotgun.
The official premiere date for The Witcher season two has yet to be announced. Season one is available to stream on Netflix.