The Witcher taps an Emmy-winning actor to play Regis in the upcoming fourth season

We officially have our live-action Regis, the fan-favorite higher vampire is joining the cast of The Witcher season 4 and will be portrayed by Emmy and Tony-winning actor Laurence Fishburne. The addition of Regis to the cast has been predicted for a while now because the end of season 3 set up the next phase of Geralt's journey, as outlined in the next book in Andrzej Sapkowski's series, Baptism of Fire.

Fishburne is an acclaimed actor who has been a consistent industry stalwart since the 1970s. His most famous role to date is probably Morpheus in The Matrix franchise, but he's also known for the John Wick films, Apocalypse Now, Boyz n the Hood, What's Love Got to Do With It, and The Color Purple. He also plays Dr. Bill Foster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Fishburne previously worked with Netflix for the films Ice Road and The School for Good and Evil. He has several movies slated for release in the coming years, such as Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, the sci-fi thriller Slingshot, and the espionage thriller The Amateur.

For The Witcher season 4, Fishburne joins the cast alongside fellow newcomer Liam Hemsworth, who is taking over the role of Geralt of Rivia from Henry Cavill.

Netflix made the official announcement on January 12 via X (formerly Twitter).

Who is Regis?

For those unfamiliar with the character of Regis, or Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy, which is his full name, he's a powerful higher vampire who has been alive for over 400 years. When Geralt leaves Brokilon to find Ciri, Regis is one of several characters who joins his little traveling troupe, also known as his "hanza."

The beginnings of this troupe were established at the end of season 3, with Geralt beginning his trek alongside Dandelion (Joey Batey) and Milva (Meng'er Zhang). Higher vampires are already much different from other vampires Geralt has faced, like the bruxa he confronted at Nivellen's place in "A Grain of Truth."

Unlike bruxae and other lesser vampires, higher vampires are extremely intelligent and cunning. They're nearly impossible to kill and often you wouldn't even know they were a vampire unless they wanted you to know. Regis is the barber-surgeon of the city of Dillengen in Brugge.

Netflix does not call Regis a vampire in its descriptions, but I doubt they would change it in the show and it's likely not disclosed to create some mystery for people who haven't read the books or played the games.

Regis became a very close friend of Geralt's and even featured in an important role in The Witcher 3 DLC expansion Blood & Wine where he was voiced by actor Mark Noble.