Production on fantasy epic `The Witcher` Season 2 has commenced in the U.K., with a planned launch in 2021, Netflix announced.

The show also announced seven new cast members joining `The Witcher` for S2, including Kristofer Hivju, the Norwegian actor who played the red-bearded wilding leader Tormund Giantsbane on `Game of Thrones.`

Netflix last month claimed `The Witcher` Season 1 was tracking to be its biggest original TV series debut to date. However, that's according to a new metric invented by the company that found 76 million member households watched at least 2 minutes of the show in the first four weeks after its Dec. 20 release.

The streamer renewed `The Witcher` for Season 2 last fall with an eight-episode order, more than a month before the freshman season hit the streaming service. The show represents `a massive new franchise that we'll develop season after season,` Netflix chairman/CEO Reed Hastings said on the company's Q4 2019 earnings interview Jan. 21.

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Fast and Furious 9's Thue Ersted Rasmussen will also join as Eskel, a witcher from the School of the Wolf who established an early friendship with Geralt of Rivia, having been raised alongside him.

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New cast members for S2 include Kristofer Hivju (`Game of Thrones`) as Nivellen, Yasen Atour (`Young Wallender`) as Coen, Agnes Bjorn as Vereena, Paul Bullion (`Peaky Blinders`) as Lambert, Thue Ersted Rasmussen (`Fast and Furious 9`) as Eskel, Aisha Fabienne Ross (`The Danish Girl`) as Lydia, and newcomer Mecia Simson as Francesca.