It was recently confirmed that Netflix has recast a major character ahead of The Witcher season 2, primarily due to conflicts in scheduling that have arisen as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The news comes from a recent report published by Deadline, which features information pertaining to the new casting. Although the character in question is new to the Netflix series, having not appeared in its inaugural season, those who have played CD Projekt Red’s Witcher trilogy — or just The Witcher 3, for that matter — will likely be acquainted with Eskel, Geralt’s friend and companion from the Wolf School in Kaer Morhen.
For those unacquainted with Eskel, he — unlike many other witchers — is almost on par with Geralt in terms of witchering skill. Despite not having been subjected to the same amount of violent mutagens — which you can read about in our comprehensive breakdown of what a witcher actually is — Eskel is pretty much just as good a swordsman as Geralt, and is arguably a lot more level-headed in heated situations.
According to the Deadline report, Thus Ersted Rasmussen — who had originally been cast to play the Wolf School witcher — had to pull out of filming last week “due to the rescheduling because of COVID-19.”
Rasmussen has since been replaced by Basil Eidenbenz, known for Victoria, Denial, and The Favourite. It’s reasonable to assume that Eidenbenz will hit the ground running given that it was recently confirmed that The Witcher was shooting a crucial action scene for season 2, during which we speculated that both Eskel and Coen would be present — you can read all about that at the link.
It appears that Falka has also been cast for The Witcher season 2, although an official announcement has yet to be made. While fans of the games might not know a whole lot about the Redanian rebel, those acquainted with Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher saga will no doubt be able to immediately recognize the significance of the casting.
Netflix is also working on a separate Witcher project set 1,200 years prior to Geralt of Rivia, although not much else is known about that at present.
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