It's all gone very quiet on The Witcher season 3 front. The hit Netflix series is currently slated to arrive in mid-2023 but, particularly in the last few months, there's been little to no new updates on when it'll actually arrive.

Of course, one of the best Netflix shows hasn't been unceremoniously cancelled. However, with the backlash that The Witcher live-action universe has received in recent months, it's not surprising that the cast and crew are keeping their heads down until Netflix confirms an official launch date.

Regardless, there's been plenty of chatter about The Witcher's third season since its predecessor ended. Below, we've rounded up everything worth knowing about the fantasy show's next entry, including its new and returning cast members, plot points that need addressing, its potential release date, the series' future, and more.

Full spoilers follow for The Witcher season 2 and The Witcher: Blood Origin. Potential spoilers for season 3 and Andrzej Sapkowski's novels are also discussed.

The Witcher season 3 release date: what we know

The Witcher season 3 doesn't have an official release date, but a mid-2023 release window has been revealed. Right now, it seems the third season is still on track to meet that release window, but that's because we haven't heard anything to the contrary.

Mid-2023 means it could launch anytime between May and September. Even then, we might only get half of the episodes. Showrunner Lauren S Hissrich told Collider that Netflix “wouldn't rule” splitting the third season into two parts. If The Witcher season 3's second half needs more development time, we could see it released in two volumes.

Interestingly, in the same article, Hissrich appeared to let an official launch month slip, saying: “We have a way still [to go], a very long time, eight-ish months or so until The Witcher season 3 comes out”. Collider's article went live in December 2022, so that “eight-ish months” comment would put season 3 coming out in August 2023.

The Witcher season 3 cast

Here's The Witcher season 3's likely cast:

• Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia 
• Freya Allen as Princess Cirilla of Cintra 
• Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg 
• Joey Batey as Jaskier 
• Eamon Farren as Cahir 
• MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries 
• Mimî M. Khayisa as Fringilla Vigo 
• Royce Pierreson as Istredd 
• Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold 
• Mahesh Jadu as Vilgefortz 
• Tom Canton as Filavandrel 
• Mecia Simson as Francesca Findabair 
• Lars Mikkelsen as Stregobor 
• Terence Maynard as Artorius Vigo 
• Graham McTavish as Sigismund Dijkstra 
• Ed Birch as King Vizimir of Redania 
• Sam Woolf as Rience 
• Aisha Fabienne Ross as Lydia van Bredevoort 
• Cassie Clare as Philippa Einhart 
• Wilson Mbomio as Dara 
• Bart Edwards as Duny/Emperor Emhyr, aka The White Flame of Nilfgaard 
• Meng’er Zhang as Milva
• Robbie Amell as Gallatin
• Hugh Skinner as Prince Radovid
• Christelle Elwin as Mistelle

Many of the above have featured heavily in the show, but those who haven’t should see their roles expanded.

Emperor Emhyr is one of the latter. The season 2 finale revealed Duny – the knight Geralt saved in season 1 and who is also Ciri’s father – is not only still alive, but he’s the leader (aka The White Flame) of Nilfgaard’s forces. And he wants to be reunited with Ciri, so he can use her abilities for nefarious means.

Philippa Einhart featured fleetingly in season 2 but, based on what we know of her book counterpart, she has a bigger role to play. That extends to King Vizimir and Sigismund Dijkstra, too, with the kingdom of Redania becoming more prominent as the plot in the books unfolds.

Other season 2 newcomers, including Adjoa Andoh’s Nenneke, Simon Callow’s Codringher, Liz Carr’s Fenn, Kaine Zajaz’s Gage and Sam Hazeldine’s Eredin/King of the Wild Hunt, might be back, too. Until Netflix confirms they'll appear, though, we've left them off the list.

Meanwhile, four actors were officially added to the ever-expanding roster in April 2022. They include Shang-Chi's Meng'er Zhang and Upload's Robbie Amell, and you can read more about them in our Witcher season 3 cast update explainer.

Potential season 3 cast spoilers follow.

Redanian Intelligence has claimed 10 other actors – two in one article, six in another, and two more in separate news stories – have been cast. Netflix hasn't confirmed these hires, but we've listed them below as their characters may interest diehard fans:

• Stuart Thompson as Fabio Sachs
• Jim Sturgeon as Applegatt, a royal messenger of King Demavend of Aedirn
• Ryan Hayes as Artaud Terranova, a mage who participates in the Thanedd Coup
• Josh Weller as Valdo Marx, a bard rival of Joey Batey’s Jaskier
• Kate Winter as Putney
• Martyn Ellis as Barker
• Michalina Olszanska as TBC
• Sean Cernow as TBC
• Harvey Quinn as TBC
• Poppy Almond as TBC

Another Redanian Intelligence leak claims The Rings of Power season 1's Fabian McCallum will play Kayleigh, a member of the teenage misfit gang known as The Rats. Redanian Intelligence also suggests Hiftu Quasem (Killing Eve) has joined the cast as iconic character Falka.

Kim Bodnia’s Vesemir and other Witchers including Coën (Yasen Atour) and Lambert (Paul Bullion) might not be back. That’s based on Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri leaving Kaer Morhen in the season 2 finale. Unless Geralt and company return, Vesemir and his crew aren’t likely to feature. Netflix’s Witcher series has diverged slightly from its source material, however, so we could see them in season 3.

Two actors who definitely aren't returning are Blair Kincaid and Chris Fulton, who played Crach an Craite in season 1 and Rience in season 2. Redanian Intelligence says Fulton has been replaced by Sam Woolf (The Crown, Humans). Vikings Valhalla star Johannes Haukur Johannesson has reportedly been cast as Crach for season 3 (via Redanian Intelligence).

Elsewhere, two Blood Origin actors – Minnie Driver and Samuel Blenkin – could appear in the main show. Driver's Seanchai is a shape-shifting time traveler, so she might show up. Meanwhile, Blenkin's Avallac'h was revealed as the individual Ciri spots in that doorway in the first season. Avallac'h appears in the final two books but, given Netflix's live-action adaptation has played loose and fast with the novels before, he could be shoehorned into The Witcher season 3.

Finally, according to Redanian Intelligence, a new villain known as The Professor, may play a supporting role. Redanian Intelligence also claims that Safiyya Ingar (Summer of Rockets, Faith) has been cast in an undisclosed role.

The Witcher season 3 plot

Major spoilers follow for The Witcher TV series and the novels.

Little is known about The Witcher season 3’s plot, but Netflix has released a brief plot synopsis:

In December 2021, Hissrich told TechRadar that The Witcher season 3 will be based on the second main novel – i.e. The Time of Contempt, so maybe we'll see less in the way of plot diversions.

Or will we? Chatting with Collider, Hissrich said she wanted to follow the books more closely, but this season will incorporate plot points from others in the series. She also told Collider that a “big story from Blood of Elves”, the first novel in The Witcher saga, will be part of the overarching narrative. Meanwhile, VFX supervisor Sébastien Francoeur and producer Graeme Marshall revealed (via ScreenRant) that season 3 will include things that nobody has ” read or seen before in Witcher lore”. It sounds, then, that the show's next installment will continue to deviate from its source material.

Elsewhere, The Wild Hunt won't feature heavily – Hissrich telling Entertainment Weekly (EW): “We all know that, eventually, Geralt is going to learn a little bit more about the Wild Hunt, as will Ciri, but right now it stays this ever-looming threat to her. One of the things that I love in the books that Sapkowski did beautifully is he teases the Wild Hunt for so long. They pop up, then they go away for a while. So we are definitely sticking to that school.”

Potential plot spoilers follow from now on.

There are only two major Blood of Elves book-based storylines not included in season 2. The first concerns the Scoia’tael, a group of non-human guerillas who fight for Nilfgaard and attack Geralt, Ciri, Triss, and Yarpen Zigrin’s dwarven contingent. Hissrich has confirmed the Scoia’tael will appear of season 3.

The second is far more important. It relates to Geralt telling Ciri about the roses of Aelirenn, an elf who led the last band of their kin against an invading human army. Aelirenn’s forces were massacred by their foes and, given that only young elves can produce offspring, the demise of Aelirenn’s forces inadvertently led to the elves’ slow march towards extinction. Expect this to tie back into events concerning Francesca and her murdered elven baby in season 2.

Speaking of maternal relationships, Anya Chalotra, who plays Yennefer, wants to see more of the dynamic between her character and Ciri from the novels. Talking to Glamour, Chalotra said: “[I want to see] everything that happens in the book where she gets to develop a mother-daughter relationship with Ciri. She also calms down a bit and she realizes she is enough.”

In terms of Sapkowski's version of The Time of Contempt, what can we expect from The Witcher season 3?

Redanian Intelligence says the thrilling battle between Geralt and Vilgefortz has been included. The same website claims Ciri will be involved in two other moments pulled straight from the books – the first involving Wyverns, which might see her rescue Fabio Sachs, while the second sees her lost in the Korath Desert. Longtime fans will know all about the importance of this latter sequence.

Redanian Intelligence also suggests we'll see two other major events play out in The Witcher season 3 – an elegant ball attended by numerous mages (and Geralt), and the Thanedd Coup, which sees mages loyal to Nilfgaard and the North clash in a bloody battle that costs many lives. This ties into the Geralt and Vilgefortz fight we mentioned above.

Away from the action, Jaskier could become as popular with the ladies (and guys) as Geralt is. Actor Joey Batey told Total Film: “Jaskier gets a little bit of a love interest – maybe more than one.”

The Witcher season 3 trailer

No trailer has been released yet. Once one is, we’ll update this section. 

The Witcher season 3: future seasons and spin-offs

Netflix renewed The Witcher for a fourth season in October 2022. However, Redanian Intelligence says writing has begun on seasons 4 and 5, so we could get two more seasons. Previously, Hissrich told Collider she’s mapped out a seven-season arc, but her plan depends on whether people continue to watch the show.

Coercing fans to do so will be harder without Henry Cavill, who isn't returning after The Witcher season 3. Announced alongside the season 4 renewal, Netflix revealed Liam Hemsworth will take over once this season has aired. No official reason has been given about Cavill's departure, but Redanian Intelligence suggests Cavill didn't agree with the show's creative decisions.

Speaking to TechRadar, Hissrich said she “fully understands” fans' ire over Cavill leaving, but hoped they would continue watching. Elaborating to EW, Hissrich said Cavill's Geralt will get a “heroic sendoff”, before confirming to NME that she'll talk more about the situation post-season 3.

Spin-off wise, The Witcher: Blood Origin prequel series covered the story of the first Witcher's creation and finally introduced audiences to key character Avallac'h. Blood Origin also followed events leading up to and during the Conjunction of the Spheres, the cataclysm that results in the collision of multiple universes and their human, elven, and monstrous races. Meanwhile, Minnie Driver wants Seanchai to cross over into the main series and hang out with Geralt.

Other spin-offs currently in development include a family-friendly animated series and a second anime movie. Meanwhile, Redanian Intelligence claims a a spin-off involving other Witchers could be in the works, while another Redanian Intelligence article suggests a spin-off of The Rats will start filming later this year.

For more Witcher-based content, check out these five bloody fantasy shows while we wait for its third season. Alternatively, find out how to read The Witcher books in order.