The Witcher’s Doug Cockle may be swapping the fantasy series’ video game universe for the Netflix one in upcoming anime film Sirens of the Deep, but that doesn’t mean he had to adapt his portrayal of Geralt to be more in line with Henry Cavill or the surrounding cast.
“I don’t think there was anything particularly new about [this] Geralt. The writers were really good about keeping him familiar. I think if he wasn’t, that would be a problem,” Cockle told GamesRadar+ of Sirens of the Deep, which also features the voices of Jaskier actor Joey Batey and Yennefer actor Anya Chalotra.
“I’ve been voicing Geralt since 2005, so I don’t think he has any surprises in store for me. If he does, [The Witcher author] Andrzej Sapkowski is going to have to write them.”
Sirens of the Deep – which is set between the fifth and sixth episodes of The Witcher season 1 – does see Geralt and Doug Cockle head into uncharted waters in some respects, however.
As The White Wolf finds himself caught in the middle of a brewing war between merpeople and humans, he has to either let his sword do the talking or, in this case, a new language.
“One of the things that was really fun about recording Sirens of the Deep is the merspeak, which I found really challenging,” Cockle reveals. “If anything, that’s a new facet to [Geralt] that we didn’t know about… He does try his hand at merspeak and me doing it, me performing, it was really hard.”
But Cockle remains clear: the Geralt in Sirens of the Deep, Netflix universe or otherwise, is ultimately in line with the one he has played across several game titles and, presumably, will do so again in the future in The Witcher 4.
“I had to bring Geralt,” Cockle says. “When I was asked to do it, they didn’t say, ‘Can you make this change?’ I just brought my Geralt to the table… Watching the [film] myself, I thought, ‘This is my Geralt.'”
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is streaming on Netflix from February 11. For more from Cockle, read what he has to say about Liam Hemsworth’s imminent arrival as Geralt in The Witcher season 4. Then be sure to dive into our picks for best Netflix anime.