The Witcher: Geralt can’t escape his monster-hunting destiny in magical first trailer

Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri are on the hunt to make Netflix's live-action version of The Witcher look like TV's next monster hit — and now that we've finally seen Henry Cavill's Geralt in action, we'd say he's starting out as a legitimate claimant to ascend to the small screen’s fantasy throne.

Cavill, along with Anya Chalotra (Yennifer), Freya Allan (Ciri), and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, brought AAA enthusiasm to Netflix's all-Witcher San Diego Comic-Con panel Friday, where the upcoming series — based on CD Projekt RED's hugely successful role-playing video game, as well as author Andrzej Sapkowski's original novels — treated fans to the show's first trailer.  

If you suspected something dark, magical, and moody, then you’d be right as rain. Check out the world's first look at Netflix's The Witcher in the teaser below:

To the likely relief of Witcher fans everywhere, the trailer makes it abundantly clear that Netflix doesn't appear to be cutting corners when it comes to recreating the series' uniquely grim, yet mystical world. Everyone involved in bringing the show to life appears to have invested fully in both the games and Sapkowski's novels — none more so than Cavill, who told the Hall H Comic-Con crowd that he did all his own stunts as Geralt, and even keeps seven swords around (three at home, plus another four on set) so he can sharpen his monster-slaying skills whenever there's some downtime.

There's something about The Witcher's lore-verse that's elevated the show into more than just another ho-hum project, added Chalotra.  "I had no idea that there were Witcher novels before auditioning," she said. "[But] after I got the role, I immersed myself in the books and the games — and everything I could get my hands on."

"I was very passionate about the games and played them a lot, and I always said I hoped they made them into a movie," explained Cavill, whose passion to step into the role of Geralt of Rivia has by now reached almost mythic status. "So it was something I wasn't going to let pass by without me giving it my absolute best shot.”

All eight hour-long episodes of The Witcher will be stalking onto Netflix later this year.

Click here for SYFY WIRE's full coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2019, including up-to-the-minute news, exclusive interviews, and videos.