Alongside several others, The Witcher season 2 has reportedly cast one of the saga’s biggest villains — Eredin of The Wild Hunt. The Witcher Saga first came to prominence as a set of short stories and novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. First published in 1993, they have since been adapted into a film, a series of graphic novels, and, most notably, a hugely successful franchise video game franchise. The world of The Continent was most recently seen in Netflix’s ambitious adaptation. Despite The Witcher‘s confusing timeline and mixed reviews, the show remained nonetheless popular.
The Witcher starred Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, a monster-slayer for hire. Equally, the series also followed Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, a wildly mistreated yet powerful sorceress. The third point of view character came courtesy of Freya Allan as Ciri, a young Princess who found herself braving the wilds of The Continent when her kingdom was overthrown. Ever the fantasy, The Witcher season 1 told a sprawling story that covered multiple decades as fate conspired to ultimately bring them together. The Witcher season 1 finale saw that destiny come somewhat to fruition – with Geralt and Ciri finally meeting.
The Witcher season 2 has seen that cast grow — with such recognizable names as Graham McTavish and Kristofer Hivju already signing on. Despite filming recently concluding, that list has only expanded further. According to Redanian Intelligence, the above names will be joined by Sam Hazeldine. Having previously starred in fellow Netflix show: The Innocents, Hazeldine will reportedly play Eredin Bréacc Glas. That name will assuredly require no introduction to fans of the books and games. For those unaware, Eredin served as the leader of the Red Riders (a.k.a the corporeal form of The Wild Hunt), a recurring nemesis of Geralt and his allies. Screen Rant has reached out to Netflix for confirmation of the casting.
Hazeldine was part of a wave of new additions. Niamh McCormack has also been cast as an elven sorceress named Lara Dorren. Ann Firbank will play the oracle Ithlinne. Joseph Payne will feature as Jarre, a young scribe. Ed Birch will play Redania’s king, Vizimir. Ania Marson and Emily Byrt will also star as Voleth Meir and Aylne, respectively. The size of the roles will obviously range from character to character. Like Eredin, however, some of those names will be extremely familiar to fans of the source material. As such, they will likely have considerable impact, even if their screentime is kept brief amid all the monsters of The Witcher season 2.
For many fans, though, it will be the arrival of Eredin that will prompt the most excitement. Given how things were left at the end of The Witcher season 1, it was assumed that it would be a good while before The Wild Hunt even received a teasing mention. Despite the casting announcement, that might actually still be the case. The first reports of the spectral group first emerged in the final days of filming. As such, it could be that Eredin and his Red Riders don’t make an appearance until the closing chapters — setting them up to have a bigger presence in the third season. Going that route would allow the focus to remain on Ciri’s training at Kaer Morhen and mysteries like how Yennefer survived the Battle of Sodden Hill and her whereabouts. Whatever the case, the mere knowledge that The Wild Hunt is looming on the horizon will have fans even more eager for The Witcher to return.
Source: Redanian Intelligence
Originally from https://screenrant.com/witcher-season-2-wild-hunt-eredin-sam-hazeldine-cast/