Netflix just tossed a coin to Jaskier in its upcoming The Witcher spinoff, The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Entertainment Weekly shared an exclusive look at actor Joey Batey who will be reprising his role as the fan-favourite minstrel Jaskier.
In the original show, Batey’s character is stars alongside Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia – who will be played by Liam Hemsworth in fourth season of the show. The spinoff show will be a four-episode mini-series, which takes place 1,200 years earlier, chronicling the events leading to the rise of the first prototype Witcher and the supernatural phenomenon known as the conjunction of the spheres.
In the exclusive look, in a bloody atmosphere, Jaskier is seen battered with his hands tied up in rope, holding himself up on his knee.
Jaskier, showrunner Declan de Barra confirmed to EW in an interview back in September, is the pseudo narrator of Blood Origin.
“I think it was one of the first sets of notes on the pilot that I wrote. I think it was Lauren who suggested it,” De Barra said, referring to Lauren S. Hissrich, the architect of the Witcher series on Netflix. “I think she made the suggestion of Jaskier in terms of having a through line and a narrator of sorts.”
De Barra also revealed that initially Batey’s role was supposed to be small but it became larger as the production progressed. “When we got the chance to do some pickup shots, we were like, 'Let's make it even beefier and more poignant,'" he recalls. "And we did. I'm just very happy.”
The series is slated to release on December 25th, 2022.