The Witcher season 4 casts major roles Leo Bonhart, Stefan Skellan and Zoltan Chivay

Exciting new from the Continent! Variety reports that the fourth season of Netflix's monster-hunting fantasy show The Witcher has cast several important characters. Some we've heard rumbles about before, others are characters we've been waiting on with bated breath.

First up, we have official confirmation that South African actor Sharlto Copley (District 9) will be playing Leo Bonhart, a renowned bounty hunter with a sadistic streak:

Sharlto Copley is Leo Bonhart

Bonhart is a key villain in the back half of Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher Saga books, so this is a big casting. Reports have been swirling that Copley is playing Bonhart for months now, but it's nice to have official confirmation. There's also a good chance that Bonhart may appear in The Rats spinoff, since he is intertwined with the gang of thieves in the books. Expect Bonhart's appearance to spell dark things for Ciri in future seasons of The Witcher.

Next, veteran actor James Purefoy will play Stefan Skellan, the spymaster working under Emperor Emyhr Var Emries:

James Purefoy is Stefan Skellan

Purefoy has been in tons of genre fare over the years, but I know him best from A Knight's Tale and Rome. So far as I'm concerned, he's a perfect fit for the world of The Witcher, and even more so for a role like Stefan Skellan. Skellan handles many of Emhyr's more nefarious plans. Hopefully this means we'll be seeing more of Bart Edwards' Emperor Emhyr as he schemes with Skellan for how best to conquer the Continent.

Danny Woodburn is Zoltan Chivay

Our final casting is Danny Woodburn as Zoltan Chivay. Woodburn is best known from his run on Seinfeld, but he's been in tons of other shows since then as well including Monk, CSI and others. Zoltan is a charasmatic character with a quick wit, who serves as the leader of a group of dwarves that Geralt of Rivia and his hansa come into contact with fairly early in their journeys across the Continent. But Zoltan is probably even better known from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game, where he is a fan favorite pal of Geralt's who lives in Novigrad.

These castings, combined with the earlier announcement that The Matrix's Laurence Fishburne will play Regis, fill out a lot of the unknown roles we were waiting to hear about for The Witcher season 4. Now, it's full speed ahead to filming, which is expected to begin filming this month with Liam Hemsworth in the title role following the departure of Henry Cavill after season 3. Here's the official description for season 4:

“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.”

Look for it in your Netflix queue sometime in 2025. Until then, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep anime film is slated to launch sometime this later this year.

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