Netflix unveils Henry Cavill in 'The Witcher' trailer and reveals festive release date

Netflix has released a trailer for its upcoming adaptation of The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill, and revealed that the show will debut over the Christmas period.

The eight-episode first season features Cavill as the mutated monster hunter Geralt Of Rivia and is based on the novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, as well as the popular video game series they spawned.

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Geralt is one of a few remaining “witchers” left and the series will follow his encounters with powerful sorceress Tissaia de Vries — played by Twilight star MyAnna Buring — and Freya Allan’s Princess Ciri.

Cavill has previously stated he got into the best shape of his life for the role, enlisting a competitive bodybuilder to shepherd his workout routine.

He was chosen to portray the lead role after a lengthy casting process, in which more than 200 actors were seen for the part.

The trailer features a number of handsomely staged action scenes, in which Cavill faces off against supernatural beasties, which will only fuel fan excitement that the show could become the blockbuster fantasy successor to Game of Thrones.

The Witcher was originally earmarked to be a feature film over at Netflix, but the decision was ultimately made to expand it into a television series, with eight novels worth of material available to potentially adapt.

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Lauren Schmidt Hissrich will serve as showrunner for the series, having written scripts for shows including The West Wing and previous Netflix series The Umbrella Academy.

The series started shooting in October 2018 and wrapped in May 2019, with the exotic array of locations including Hungary and the Canary Islands.

As well as his work in The Witcher, Cavill will next be seen in mystery thriller Enola Holmes as the famous sleuth Sherlock, though the focus of the story is on his sister, portrayed by Millie Bobby Brown.

The Witcher will debut on Netflix from 20 December.