Yes, everybody’s sad that Henry Cavill is leaving The Witcher. But you know who’s better than Henry Cavill by every conceivable metric? Hong Kong action legend Michelle Yeoh, who is currently enjoying a lot of awards season heat thanks to Everything Everywhere All At Once and starring in The Witcher: Blood Origin, currently streaming on Netflix.
Set 1,200 years before the time of Geralt of Rivia, at a time when the Elven civilisation was at its height (if you’re not across the intricacies of the setting, don’t panic—it’s all pretty self-contained) tells the story of the “Conjunction of the Spheres” (sounds a bit Dark Crystal to us) and how the first Witcher came to be.
Our heroine is soldier/bard Éile (Sophia Brown), who gathers together six other warriors, including Yeoh’s nomadic sword-elf, Laurence O’Fuarain’s vengeful mercenary, and Francesca Mills’ lesbian dwarf, for a mission of vengeance that quickly morphs into a quest to save the world, as Lenny Henry’s ambitious, evil wizard has been messing about with vast, eldritch powers best left alone.
Canny mathematicians will note that’s a total of seven protagonists in our hero squad, a number that brings to mind a few other movies. Also in the mix are Minnie Driver as Seanchaí, a shape-shifting elven magician who narrates the proceedings, and familiar face Joey Batey as Jaskier the bard, reprising his role from the original series.
This being The Witcher, expect a high—and remarkably bloody—body count, particularly since almost nobody needs to survive to star in another spin-off. How the whole thing ties in with the main series is anyone’s guess, but fans who have been hankering for some insight into what the Continent was like back in the day, and the fall of the Elves, are going to be well served by this four-part fantasy epic.
