The Matrix and Marvel actor Laurence Fishburne has joined Netflix's The Witcher Season 4 as fan favourite character Regis.
Netflix confirmed Fishburne joins the likes of Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia (who replaces Henry Cavill), Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, Freya Allan as Ciri, and Joey Batey as Jaskier, and also revealed Season 4 begins production in spring 2024. "I’m very excited to be joining the cast and look forward to exploring the wondrous world of The Witcher," Fishburne said.
The Witcher Season 4 will adapt Baptism of Fire, the third Witcher novel from Andrzej Sapkowski, which sees Geralt searching for Ciri following the events of the Thanned Coup, which played out in the Season 3 finale. It's on this journey he comes across Regis, officially Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy, a medical practitioner and refined gentleman who becomes fast friends with the Witcher, but also hides a dark secret.
"After the shocking, Continent-altering events that close out Season 3, 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 official 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."
Those who played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Blood and Wine expansion will also be familiar with Regis, though it's worth noting the games and show exist in a separate canon so aren't directly linked.
Critical reception to the Netflix adaptation is mixed, with IGN awarding Season 1 a 6/10, Season 2 a 7/10, and Season 3 a 7/10 and 5/10 over its split season in our reviews. "The Witcher closes out its most compromised season yet by once again losing Henry Cavill in the clunky, plot-heavy shuffle," we said of the most recent episodes.
A PR storm also emerged after a former Netflix producer claimed some Witcher writers "actively disliked" and even mocked the source material. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich denied this, however, advising fans to not believe everything they read. Executive producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach also spoke out in defence of Netflix's commitment to the books.
Some fans of the book series complained Netflix made unnecessary changes or missed key points. An adaptation demands adapting, of course, and while many elements are different, executive producer Tomasz Bagiński said some changes are "necessary" but "painful for us too".
The biggest trial is still ahead of Netflix, as Cavill walked away from the show following the completion of Season 3. The actor hasn't given an explicit reason for leaving, though said in November 2021 he was absolutely committed to a seven season run of The Witcher "as long as we can keep telling great stories which honour Sapkowski's work".
Hissrich said the show could've ended or moved on without Geralt after Cavill's departure, but Netflix wasn't willing to because "there's just too many stories left to tell". Netflix instead seems to be going for some sort of multiverse transition to the character, and Hemsworth is training heavily and reading the book series in preparation for taking the role on.
Image Credit: John Nacion/Getty Images
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
