'The Witcher: Blood Origin': Jodie Turner-Smith Will Star In 'Witcher' Prequel Series

Netflix's hit fantasy show The Witcher is getting a prequel series, and that prequel has found its star. Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim) will lead the show, titled The Witcher: Blood Origin. Turner-Smith is playing Éile, an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess, in the series which is set 1200 years before the events of The Witcher.

The announcement comes straight from Netflix: Jodie Turner-Smith has joined the cast of The Witcher: Blood Origin, a prequel series to The Witcher. Netflix announced the series last summer, revealing it would be a six-part live-action show set before the events of The Witcher. Here's the official logline: "Set in an elven world 1200 years before the world of The Witcher, Blood Origin will tell a story lost to time – the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal "conjunction of the spheres," when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one."

Turner-Smith will play "Éile, an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess, has left her clan and position as Queen's guardian to follow her heart as a nomadic musician. A grand reckoning on the continent forces her to return to the way of the blade in her quest for vengeance and redemption." Declan de Barra will act as executive producer and showrunner on the series, with Lauren Schmidt Hissrich also serving as executive producer. Andrzej Sapkowski will serve as creative consultant on the series. Jason Brown and Sean Daniel from Hivemind, and Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko from Platige Films will all serve as executive producers as well.

I haven't watched The Witcher so all of this remains a bit mysterious to me, but the show was a big hit for Netflix, with Parrot Analytics reporting that the series was the third most "in demand" original streaming series in the US, behind Stranger Things and The Mandalorian. Netflix renewed The Witcher for a second season before season 1 even premiered. Season 2 is expected to premiere sometime this year. The show follows "Geralt of Rivia, Crown Princess Ciri, and the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg at different points of time, exploring formative events that shaped their characters, before eventually merging into a single timeline detailing the invaders from Nilfgaard."

Turner-Smith's was recently seen in Queen & Slim, and her upcoming projects include After Yang, co-starring Colin Farrell, and Without Remorse, co-starring Michael B. Jordan. She's also set to play the title role in the three-part UK miniseries Anne Boleyn.