Basil Eidenbenz (The Athena) is set to play Eskel in the second season of Netflix’s The Witcher adaptation, replacing Thue Ersted Rasmussen who was originally cast in the role but had to step away from the show due to “rescheduling because of COVID-19” (via Deadline).
#witchernetflix #eskel #covid_19 pic.twitter.com/bcLTg2OgzM
— Thue Rasmussen (@ThueRasmussen) September 23, 2020
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The next season of The Witcher will feature Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) as Nivellen and Kim Bodnia (Killing Eve) as Vesemir. Six other actors have also been cast for Season 2 including Paul Bullion (Peaky Blinders) as the witcher Lambert; Yasen Atour (Young Wallender) as Coën, a witcher from Poviss; Agnes Bjorn as Vereena, a powerful bruxa; Basil Eidenbenz (Denial) as Eskel, Geralt’s friend from his youth; Aisha Fabienne Ross (The Danish Girl) as Lydia, a sorceress; and Mecia Simson (Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model) as the preternaturally beautiful elf Francesca.
Based on the best-selling fantasy series, The Witcher is an epic tale of fate and family. Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.
The series stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Freya Allan as Princess Ciri, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, MyAnna Buring as Tissaia, and Joey Batey as Jaskier. Season 2 will also feature the return of Tom Canton as Filavandrel, Lilly Cooper as Murta, Jeremy Crawford as Yarpin Zigrin, Eamon Farren as Cahir, Mahesh Jadu as Vilgefortz, Terence Maynard as Artorius, Lars Mikkelson as Stregobor, Mimi Ndiweni as Fringilla Vigo, Royce Pierrseson as Istredd, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte as Dara, Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold, and Therica Wilson Read as Sabrina.
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The Witcher series for Netflix is based on the stories and novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, of which there are eight, which themselves formulated the popular Witcher games franchise which has since spawned a comic book series and a tabletop game. The book series was previously adapted for television in Poland.
Schmidt Hissrich serves as executive producer and showrunner for The Witcher. She’s known for her work (writing and co-executive producing) on The Defenders, Daredevil, and Power. Sean Daniel is set to executive produce under the Sean Daniel Company with his partner Jason Brown. Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko of Platige Image are also executive producers as well.
All eight episodes of the first season are already available for streaming on Netflix.
(Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
