The Witcher season 3 will reportedly feature a new villain pulled straight from Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. Per Redanian Intelligence, Ralf Blunden (or The Professor as he’s better known) will be played by Sunny Patel.
Patel is best known as a video game actor, having worked on Vox Machinae and Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor. His character, The Professor, appears in the second novel in The Witcher saga, Time of Contempt, as an assassin who’s in pursuit of Ciri and Yennefer.
While it’s not yet clear how he’ll work into the story of The Witcher season 3, he’s expected to appear in the early episodes of the show. And given the official synopsis hints that our main trio is on the run, it’s likely The Professor will be in pursuit of them.
Picking up in the aftermath of the season 2 ending, the new episodes will see Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) take Ciri of Cintra (Freya Allan) into hiding as monarchs, mages, and beasts pursue her. Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) will be in charge of her magical training, taking her to the fortress of Aretuza to harness her power. However, it seems like danger will be hanging around every corner for the trio.
There’s no release date for season 3 of The Witcher yet, but we do know it will be Cavill’s last time playing Geralt. The actor will be replaced by Liam Hemsworth in the leading role from season 4 onwards, but we don’t yet know how the show will address the casting change.
Speaking about it to GamesRadar+, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said she’s "so excited" for viewers to see the recasting. "I think that it's just a new chapter for us," she said at The Witcher: Blood Origin junket. "And I think new chapters bring new energy and that people will find things to love."
