By After a long period of pre-production and dual writer and actor strikes, The Witcher finally re-entered production in April of 2024 with Liam Hemsworth in Henry Cavill’s well-worn Geralt boots, as well as co-stars Anya Chalotra (Yennefer), Freya Allan (Ciri) and Joey Batey (Jaskier).
To celebrate the beginning of a long and challenging journey of filming Season 4 and 5, Netflix gave us a quick glimpse of the cast’s table read of the Season 4 scripts and a month later, Liam Hemsworth’s official first look as Geralt of Rivia. Today, Redanian Intelligence is back with an update on what we’ve seen and heard in the first month of filming for Season 4.
Liam Hemsworth films his first teaser as Geralt of Rivia
The very first thing Netflix did for The Witcher Season 4 was to film the small teaser we got that revealed the first look of Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia.
That being said, the teaser footage isn’t part of Season 4 and wasn’t directed by any Witcher Season 4 directors, but rather Phoebe Arnstein, who as a director specializes in short form filmmaking, teasers and projects of that nature.
The teaser was filmed on April 18, 2024, the day Netflix published the table read video and announced the beginning of the Season 4 production.
Rats Reunited in the First Week of Filming
From what we’ve heard, much of the first week of filming was focused on scenes involving Freya Allan’s character, Ciri. As viewers may remember, Season 3 concluded with Ciri joining a group of teenage outlaws known as The Rats, and renaming herself Falka. This kicks off a very dark and disturbing storyline from Adrzej Sapkowski’s novels in which Ciri embraces her dark side.
The filming in Week 1 seemingly picks up more or less where Season 3 left off, as we’ve heard that Ciri is still wearing the same look she had by the end of Season 3, with long hair. As we covered in another article, Ciri will have a new look later in the season, when she fully embraces Falka.
Besides Allan, all other Rats cast members were present for filming: Christelle Elwin as Mistle, Ben Radcliffe as Giselher, Aggy K. Adams as Iskra, Fabian McCallum as Kayleigh, Juliette Alexandra as Reef, and Connor Crawford as Asse.
After a quick few days of filming, Allan had to take a break from filming to join her castmates from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes for the film’s press tour. Coincidentally, Freya has shared some interesting details about Ciri’s Season 4 arc in an interview with Inverse:
“This is the storyline that I’ve been wanting and most excited me from the beginning of the show. Ciri obviously has changed throughout, but we really see a different Ciri in this one. By the end of the last season, she’s gone through so much that it’s the last straw. And I think she kind of ends up trying to reside in this other version of herself, and… She kind of enters a zone of just, ‘I’m just going to be brutal because I’m sick of the world being brutal to me.’ It’s quite the turn for a character who was the often innocent, always hopeful heart of the series. Ciri is really coming into being an adult and a woman — and not necessarily in the most healthy way.“
A Glimpse at Liam Hemsworth’s Geralt Costume, As Worn By His Stunt Double
Our first good look at The Witcher Season 4 occurred near the town of Midhurst in West Sussex on the first week of May. The Netflix crew had gathered around a small house in the middle of the English countryside to film an action sequence involving horses, stuntmen wearing bandit attire, the possible screaming of a woman, and Geralt of Rivia himself.
Though Liam Hemsworth was not photographed on location, we got a pretty good look at his costume as worn by his stunt double, Joel Adrian. In the pictures, we can see Geralt’s new look, including his punk-rock crocodile leather jacket. We also see Geralt holding a very bloody sword.
The sword in Geralt’s hands is the one the dryads gave him at the end of Season 3, so at this point in time, our witcher hasn’t met Zoltan Chivay yet and the dwarf hasn’t given him the new Sihil.
Regardless of that, where we find Geralt, his Hansa is not far behind. These traveling companions include the bard and best friend Jaskier (Joey Batey), the archer and potty-mouth Milva (Meng’er Zhang), and possibly a few other companions who will join Geralt in Season 4.
It’s possible that newcomer Regis (Laurence Fishburne) will be involved, although it’s likely he will be introduced a bit later. Besides them, there is another familiar character who will likely try to join the Hansa, if the show follows the books, but we won’t spoil who that is for those who haven’t read the books.
Of all the Hansa members, Zhang (who portrays Milva) specifically has been spending a lot of time with The Witcher‘s stunt team, so it’s likely she was involved in some action sequences, perhaps this same scene.
Liam Hemsworth’s Geralt, Anya Chalotra’s Yennefer, and Mahesh Jadu’s Vilgefortz revisit a fan-favorite Season 3 scene
It wasn’t long after Liam Hemsworth’s stunt double was photographed on location that pictures of Hemsworth himself surfaced in a Metro article. We finally have our first look at the new Geralt. The striking similarity of Hemsworth to Cavill, in both costume and mannerisms, came as a surprise to some fans who were expecting a new take on Geralt.
Besides the initial shock and excitement of seeing Hemsworth wearing the Geralt costume for the first time, fans were treated to a well-documented look at a very interesting Season 4 scene filmed at Paignton Beach near Plymouth in southwestern England.
If you think Geralt fighting Mahesh Jadu’s Vilgefortz on the beach is familiar, you’re not wrong. The scene filmed at Paignton Beach appears to be a re-enactment of Geralt’s climactic battle with Vilgefortz in Season 3’s sixth episode, after which Geralt is severely wounded and Vilgefortz becomes the series’ central villain. Why is the show revisiting this scene? As we found out, this will serve as part of a sequence that will introduce Hemsworth as the new Geralt.
READ MORE: The Witcher Filming Liam Hemsworth’s First Scene in Season 4
It is already known through the casting of Stribog (Clive Russell) and Nimue (Eve Ridley) that the show will re-introduce Geralt with a frame narrative that already existed in the Witcher novels. A century after the events of the show, the old wandering storyteller Stribog tells a group of children the story of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, who have become legendary figures.
As we understand, in this conversation, the children will debate with Stribog about what exactly happened, and probably what Geralt looked like, which will give some pretext to Geralt’s new look. This may also explain why Hemsworth is seen wearing not just the shirt and pants he wore in the Vilgefortz fight in Season 3, but his Season 2 armor as well.
Interestingly, Hemsworth and Jadu were not the only cast members on location, Anya Chalotra’s Yennefer was also photographed on location wearing a new costume. It is not entirely clear from these photos if Chalotra is sharing a scene with Hemsworth and Jadu, or filming an entirely different beach scene independent from them.
However, her appearance on the same spot has led to rampant speculation that the show might use Chalotra’s presence in Hemsworth’s introductory sequence. Some fans think that, as part of Stribog’s debate with Nimue and the other children over what happened to Geralt and Vilgefortz, someone will mention that they heard Yennefer was there too.
Another interesting detail about the picture featuring Chalotra’s Yennefer is that one of the people behind her, who was wearing a crew raincoat at the time, appears to be wearing a wig and elf-ear prosthetics. In the picture above, that is the person just behind the cameraman. It seems likely that an elf will interact with Yennefer in this scene filmed at Paignton Beach, which may suggest this is a completely different scene from the one featuring Geralt and Vilgefortz.
You can see more pictures of the filming at Paignton Beach in our full article, credited to Metro and the SplashNews photo agency.
Other Filming Locations Include: Puzzlewood, Cotehele, and Haytor Quarry
Once filming wrapped up in West Sussex, signs of The Witcher’s crew popped up across multiple locations in England. The first of these locations was Puzzlewood. This beautiful English forest overgrown with moss has a slightly creepy feeling to it.
Besides the greenery, this location has a wooden bridge and other nice spots. You can see more pictures of this location’s various possible filming spots in View Britain’s article. This isn’t the first time The Witcher has filmed in Puzzlewood, as this location has been used for Brokilon Forest in Season 3.
Locals have noticed the production setting up a trailer park in the nearby Royal Forest of Dean, and claimed that the production would be filming from May 9 to 21. Unfortunately, the location was locked down by Netflix security, so we don’t know what was filmed there and which actors were involved.
It’s possible that Puzzlewood will once again become Brokilon Forest, although our characters have moved out of there by the end of Season 3. More likely, Puzzlewood will stand for some of the many forests Geralt’s Hansa will pass through in Season 4.
The next location we heard was visited by the Witcher crew is the Cotehele. According to the National Trust, this is “an atmospheric Tudor house with Medieval roots, a mill on a historic quay, a glorious garden with valley views and an expansive estate to explore”. Also according to them, this location has been closed down for filming for just over a week.
Given the unique medieval look of the architecture and the beautiful gardens, Cotehele could for example stand for the Redanian Royal Gardens, which we have already seen in Season 3 in the storyline of Philippa (Cassie Clare) and Dijkstra (Graham McTavish). It may also be a different location, such as Montecalvo, a castle that became the heart of sorceress politics in the books after the fall of Aretuza. It could also be something completely different.
Last but not least is Haytor Quarry, a spot in the heart of Dartmoor National Park on the southwestern edge of England. We already reported that Season 4 will be filmed in this location a few months ago.
This location is the most recent on the crew’s list, as they’ve only started filming there this week (May 13 – 17). The location was again locked down by Netflix security, and very little information has breached their defenses. As always, we will keep watching and let you know if we learn more.
Next up: The Witcher Returns to Wales
Wales was a significant location in The Witcher Season 3, being the primary location for the outskirts of Aretuza as well as the original location for the Geralt vs. Vilgefortz duel.
We heard the show will return there for Season 4 as well, although we’re still confirming the dates. We’ll update as soon as we learn something, so stay tuned.
The Witcher Season 4 is in production for a 2025 release. Andrzej Sapkowski’s new Witcher book has a planned Winter 2024/2025 release with The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep anime set for a late 2024 release as well.
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