The cast of Netflix's The Witcher has grown a little larger with the announcement of a trio of new characters who will be joining the action in the upcoming season 4, including one who will be very familiar to fans of the game trilogy: The dwarf Zoltan Chivay, one of Geralt's closest friends, who will be portrayed by Danny Woodburn.
I didn't recognize the name but when I looked at the promo photo I immediately thought, man, that looks a lot like the guy from Seinfeld. As it turns out, it is the guy from Seinfeld—that is, the guy who portrayed Kramer's hot-headed friend Mickey Abbott. Which is a bit of a contrast to Zoltan, who (relative to Yarpen Zigrin, at least) is a thoughtful, cool-headed character, although still happy enough to bust you in half with an axe if the situation warrants.
It might seem odd to fans of The Witcher games that Zoltan is only joining the cast now, but that comes down to the fact that the Netflix series is based on the books, where his presence isn't quite so significant. I haven't read the books myself (yes, yes, call me a casual) but according to this interesting thread on Reddit, Yarpen is actually the more prominent character and closer to Geralt, but CD Projekt decided to swap in Zoltan, and even used some of Yarpen's quotes from the books in the first Witcher game.
Anyway, Zoltan is coming and that's very cool. Also joining the cast for season 4 are Sharlto Copley as the bounty hunter Leo Bonhart, and James Purefoy as Nilfgaardian agent Stefan Skellen—do be aware that there are big spoilers in both of those links, so click them at your own risk. Neither of those characters appeared in the game but they both played notable roles in the books. They'll be joined in the upcoming season by Laurence Fishburne, who signed up to play the higher vampire Regis in January.
Of course, season 4 is also notable for being the debut of Liam Hemsworth in the title role, taking over from Henry Cavill, who departed at the end of season 3. Unfortunately there's still no sign of a release date for the next season: It could happen later this year, but given that Netflix said the series "will return to production this spring," I'd say the smart money is on sometime in 2025.
