The Witcher: Blood Origin: Netflix Casts Jodie Turner-Smith in Prequel Series

Netflix has officially announced that The Witcher: Blood Origin, the six-part, live-action prequel series, has cast Jodie Turner-Smith as a lead. Turner-Smith is set to play Éile, "an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess." Turner-Smith is perhaps best known for her roles in Queen & Slim, Jett, and Nightflyers. Her casting as a lead marks the first major piece of news since the limited series was first announced in the middle of last year.

According to the press release from Netflix, Éile "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." Exactly how she fits into the plot of the six-part series is unclear, but given that she's a lead, it seems fair to assume there's a major role to play. Based on previously reported character descriptions, it certainly sounds like she is an elf.

Here is the logline provided by Netflix for The Witcher: Blood Origin:

"Set in an elven world 1200 years before the world of The Witcher, Blood Origin will tell a story lost to time - the origin of the very first 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."

For The Witcher: Blood Origin, Declan de Barra will be showrunner and an executive producer while The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich will act as an executive producer. The Witcher franchise creator and author Andrzej Sapkowski will also serve as creative consultant on the series. According to the original announcement of the series, Jason Brown and Sean Daniel of Hivemind as well as Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko from Platige Films will also be executive producers. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the upcoming limited prequel series right here.

What do you think of Smith being cast in The Witcher: Blood Origin? Are you excited to learn more about the prequel limited series? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!

Featured photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images