The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and star Henry Cavill have responded to the news that Cavill is playing Geralt of Rivia on the Netflix fantasy TV series. Prior to his official casting, the Man of Steel and Mission: Impossible - Fallout actor had voiced a desire to play Geralt in the small screen Witcher adaptation - a desire born by his love for not only The Witcher video games (The Witcher 3 in particular), but also The Witcher book saga written by Andrzej Sapkowski.

So far, Cavill is the only official cast member for The Witcher TV show. However, leaked audition tapes for the series suggest that casting for Yennefer of Vengerberg - a sorceress and Geralt's eventual lover - is actively underway. The plot summary for Hissrich's Witcher adaptation further confirms that the monster hunter Geralt will cross paths with a character who certainly sounds like Yennefer (e.g. a "powerful sorceress"), at some point during his journey.

Related: What Henry Cavill Could Look Like as Geralt on The Witcher

With Cavill now formally committed and directors in place for the show's first eight episodes, the next big Witcher announcement should involve the casting of Yennefer and the rest of the series' ensemble. In the meantime, as fans continue to process the news about Cavill, both the actor and Hissrich have take to their social media accounts to weigh in. Take a look at the screenshots below:

While he's best known these days for playing Superman in the DC movie universe, Cavill has a history on both television (The Tudors) and with fantasy adventures (Stardust, Immortals) - though never at the same time, before The Witcher. It's not clear just yet whether Cavill will be aged up for his role, in order to look more like the scarred and silver-haired Geralt depicted in The Witcher video games. It's also unclear what effect (if any) his casting will have on Cavill's ability to reprise Kal-El in a future DC film release like Man of Steel 2.

So far, Cavill appears generally enthusiastic about being cast in The Witcher, with Hissrich seemingly equally happy to have him onboard. Hissrich has further proven herself to be a fan-friendly showrunner already, having provided Witcher loyalists with a steady stream of updates on the show's progress (via her Twitter account) throughout its pre-production. That alone bodes well for the pair's involvement with this specific book-turned video game series adaptation.

MORE: Next Witcher Game May Not Feature Geralt

The Witcher is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2020.

Source: Henry Cavill, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich