Jaskier is back! See an exclusive look at the fan-favorite Witcher minstrel in Blood Origin
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Toss a coin to Jaskier. It looks like he needs it.
EW has an exclusive look at actor Joey Batey reprising his role of fan-favorite minstrel Jaskier from The Witcher on the spin-off event series The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Jaskier exists in the current timeline of The Witcher, which stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia (soon to be replaced by Liam Hemsworth in season 4 and beyond). Meanwhile, Blood Origin — a contained four-episode miniseries — takes place 1,200 years earlier, chronicling the events leading to the rise of the first prototype Witcher and the supernatural phenomenon known as the conjunction of the spheres.
Jaskier, showrunner Declan de Barra confirmed to EW in an interview back in September, is the pseudo narrator of Blood Origin.
"I think it was one of the first sets of notes on the pilot that I wrote. I think it was Lauren who suggested it," De Barra says, referring to Lauren S. Hissrich, the architect of the Witcher series on Netflix. "I think she made the suggestion of Jaskier in terms of having a through line and a narrator of sorts."
Kevin Baker/Netflix Joey Batey returns as Jaskier for 'The Witcher: Blood Origin.'
De Barra also confirms that Batey's role on Blood Origin was initially small, but it became much larger as the crew returned to set for reshoots. "When we got the chance to do some pickup shots, we were like, 'Let's make it even beefier and more poignant,'" he recalls. "And we did. I'm just very happy."
Jaskier has seen better days in the new photo from The Witcher: Blood Origin. The character, who famously sings medieval bops like "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher," is soaked in blood as a blurred figure in the background wields a bow.
"The power of music and stories is at the heart of The Witcher: Blood Origin so it makes sense for Jaskier to be some kind of connective tissue between Blood Origin and the main show," Batey tells EW in an exclusive statement. "When I was asked to take a break from filming [The Witcher] season 3 to take part in Blood Origin, I was absolutely thrilled. Despite my brief appearance, it was such a pleasure to act alongside the inimitable Minnie Driver and work with the incredible stunt team over a gruelling three-day shoot."
"As a fan of the books, I loved watching Declan's story unfold and I was blown away by how much energy and detail each of the cast brought to their characters," he continues. "If I'm honest, I'm gutted I wasn't in it more!"
The Witcher: Blood Origin, set to premiere on Netflix Dec. 25, tells the story of three elven figures: warrior-turned-singer Éile (Sophia Brown), brute Fjall (Laurence O'Fuarain), and sword-elf Scían (Michelle Yeoh). As fate forces their paths to converge, their joint quest will bring about the conjunction of the spheres, an event that merges the realms of human, elf, and monster together to form the world of the Continent in the main series.
Driver appears as Seanchaí, a shapeshifting storyteller with the ability to travel between worlds and times.
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