The Witcher novels, popular as they are, have been eclipsed by their video games counterpart for a while now. Thanks to CD Projekt Red‘s consistent efforts in improving the games’ mechanics and scale, we now have The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which is often cited as one of the best games of all time from all corners of the world.

All this popularity would’ve eventually led to fans yearning for a Hollywood live-action adaption be it ether in the form of a film or a TV series. Netflix announced way back in 2017 that it was indeed working on a Witcher TV series and today we’ve finally gotten the first official trailer. Take a look:

As detailed before in prior announcements and leaks, the show will be based on the novels and not the video games. The plot of the video games take place after the events of the books and so for those of you who have never read the novels, this is a good way to acquaint yourself with the lore and backstory of Geralt and other important characters.

At first, I wasn’t all too enthusiastic to hear that Henry Cavill is being casted as Geralt but it seems that he might put up a good performance as the titular witcher after all. I’m still not sold on Anya Chalotra‘s Yennefer but I’ve been spoiled by how unrealistically beautiful she is in the games so it’s not a fair comparison. On a positive note, Freya Allan‘s portrayal of an innocent and fearful Ciri is quite convincing since the show begins before her Kear Morhen training.

Yennefer in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. You’d need sorcery to look this good.

Overall, I’ve got pretty high hopes for the show now. If you’ve never read the novels but have played the games (like me), then I think the show will at least be worth checking out. We’ll be able to find out more about Geralt’s past and how his relationships between important characters like Yennefer and Ciri were formed.

The Witcher Netflix TV series will begin airing in late 2019. Oh, did you notice that Geralt is only carrying one sword instead of two? Here’s why.