Laurence Fishburne joins Netflix's The Witcher as Geralt's best vampire buddy

Netflix announced today that Laurence Fishburne, the wise man Morpheus from the Matrix films, will be joining the cast of The Witcher as Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy—or as his friends know him, Regis.

Regis is a powerful higher vampire who played a key role in Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher novels. He had what could be described as a misspent youth, often overindulging in drinking human blood which led to all sorts of bad behavor. He finally changed his ways after an encounter with a group of peasants left him grievously wounded; by the time he ran into Geralt and company in the novel Baptism of Fire, he was quiet, reserved, and highly respected for his skills as a surgeon and a barber. He met an unfortunate end at the hands of Vilgefortz in The Lady of the Lake, but made a surprise return in The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine expansion, and once again proved an invaluable friend.

It's a character that seems well-suited to Fishburne, who has a flair for firm-but-fair father figure roles like Morpheus, the Bowery King in the John Wick films, and Perry White in Man of Steel. "I’m very excited to be joining the cast and look forward to exploring the wondrous world of The Witcher," Fishburne said.

Fishburne joins the series as it transitions from original star Henry Cavill, who departed in order to return to the role of Superman (which ultimately did not happen), to Liam Hemsworth, who will step into the role of Geralt for season four. As for what's coming in the next season, Netflix provided a brief synopsis:

After the shocking, Continent-altering events that close out season three, 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.  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. 

"This is the beginning of what fans [of the books] will know as the Hanza," showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said. "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."

Not for a while yet, though. A debut date still hasn't been announced but we don't expect The Witcher season 4 to air until sometime in late 2024, or possibly even 2025.