Netflix announced today that Laurence Fishburne, the wise-cracking Morpheus from the film "The Matrix," will join the cast of "The Witcher" as Emiel Regis Loherek Terzhiev-Godofroy, or Regis as his friends know him.

Regis is a powerful senior vampire who played a key role in Anjay Sapkowski's "The Witcher" novels. He spent his youth drinking too much human blood, often to the point of committing all sorts of misdeeds. He finally reformed after an encounter with a band of peasants in which he was seriously wounded. By the time he encounters Gerard and his party in the novel "The Baptism of Fire," he has become quiet and reserved, and is highly regarded for his skills as a surgeon and barber. He met an unfortunate end at the hands of the Wilgevolz in "The Lady of the Lake," but was unexpectedly resurrected in the "The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine" expansion, where he once again became an irreplaceable friend. [The character is a perfect fit for Fishburne, who excels at playing firm but fair fathers like Morpheus, the Bowery King in "John Wick" and Perry White in "Man of Steel. Said Fishburne, "I'm looking forward to exploring the mysterious world of The Witcher."

Fishburne joins as the series transitions from original star Henry Cavill, who dropped out to return to the role of Superman (which ultimately did not happen), to Liam Hemsworth, who takes over as Geralt in season four. The new season will see Geralt, Jenefer, and Siri faced with traversing a war-torn continent and the many demons that reside there, separated from one another, after the shocking continent-changing events that concluded Season 3. If they can accept and lead the delinquent group to which they belong, they have a chance to survive the baptism of fire and find each other again.

"This is the beginning of what (book) fans know as Hansa," said showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hisrich. 'This is the group that will travel with Gerard in the continuation of the book. This will be his new family. He begins to realize that he needs help to get Jenefer and Siri back together. So you begin to see the Hanseatic being built up and you begin to see that there is a wonderful emotional connection there.

"It's really fun," he says. It's still Gerard's struggle. I have always said that this man cannot have feelings. It's clear that's not true. In Season 4, those boundaries will be tested again."

However, it won't be for a while yet. A debut date has not yet been announced, but "The Witcher" Season 4 may not air until late 2024 or even 2025.