The Witcher Ending With Season Five

As production on the fourth season ramps up Netflix announced today one final renewal for The Witcher, the hit fantasy drama that has starred Henry Cavill in the lead role. The streamer has renewed the show for a fifth season, but also announced that it will be the show’s last.

Replacing Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in Seasons 4 and 5 is actor Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games, Independence Day: Resurgence). He joins returning cast members Anya Chalotra (Yennefer), Freya Allan (Ciri), and Joey Batey (Jaskier). Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) also joins the series in the role of Regis, described as “a world-wise barber-surgeon with a mysterious past.”

Netflix unveiled a video of Hemsworth and the cast at a table reading, as Season 4 begins production in the United Kingdom.

It's official, The Witcher season 4 is in production. But that's not all, we're already planning season 5, which will be the final season and bring this epic show to a fitting conclusion. See you on The Continent. pic.twitter.com/c0ilUCWYkF

— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) April 18, 2024

“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,” creator and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said. “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.”

Cavill announced his departure in October 2022, ahead of the third season’s debut last summer. After a prematurely announced return to the role of Superman came to naught, Cavill has been confirmed to star in a big-budget feature reboot of Highlander for director Chad Stahelski (John Wick).

“As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men,” Cavill said when the news broke. “Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him — enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find.”

Also joining the cast are Sharlto Copley (District 9) as bounty hunter Leo Bonhart; James Purefoy (The Following) as Skellen; and Danny Woodburn (Watchmen) as the dwarf Zoltan.

Ending The Witcher at five seasons will also cut the story somewhat short. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has reported plotted out a seven-year arc for the series. That’s a difficult run to achieve on Netflix (where the norm is closer to three seasons for a high-budget, original scripted show). But giving The Witcher one more season, knowing that the end is coming, will at least give the writing team the opportunity to wrap up key stories and deliver some form of a conclusion for viewers.

Netflix said that the final two seasons of the show will cover the three remaining books of Sapkowski’s original source material: Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and Lady of the Lake.

“This is the beginning of what fans [of the books] will know as the Hanza,” Schmidt Hissrich revealed. “It’s the group traveling with Geralt for the rest of the books. This becomes his newfound family. He begins to realize that he needs help to get Yennefer and Ciri back, and when you need to help, you actually have to give of yourself as well. So, we start to watch the Hanza build and start to see that there are some amazing emotional connections to come there as well.

“It’s really fun. That’s still a struggle for Geralt. This is a man who has always claimed he doesn’t have emotions because he can’t. And we clearly know that is not true. We’ll start to see those boundaries tested again in Season 4.”

Season 4 of The Witcher is expected for 2025. While you watch (or rewatch) Seasons 1 through 3 check out our complete episode guide!