Jodie Turner-Smith’s star continues to rise, and the world is better. Today Netflix announced the Queen & Slim star in the role of Élie in the upcoming series The Witcher: Blood Origin. This live-action limited series is a prequel to Netflix’s hit series The Witcher based on The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, which are collections of short stories that precede the main Witcher saga. The Witcher series was released in its 8 episode entirety back on December 20th, 2019.
Who is Élie?
The Witcher featured a medieval fantasy world that was surprisingly not devoid of color. With the news of Jodie Turner-Smith’s role as Élie, the prequel will take that a step further with a Black woman stepping into a significant role. Turner-Smith’s character, Élie, is described as an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess, who left her clan and position as Queen’s guardian to follow her heart as a nomadic musician. Élie is forced to return to the way of the blade in her quest for vengeance and redemption.
It sounds like Élie will give us some Dora Milaje energy, which is certainly something to be excited about. We can never enough Black women who are complete badasses and have a depth to their character that extends beyond their badassery. There is also a need for more Black characters in mainstream high fantasy productions who aren't reduced to set pieces or slaves needing to be freed.
What's happening in 'The Witcher: Blood Line'
According to the official Netflix announcement, Blood Line is set in an elven world 1200 years before The Witcher world. Blood Line will tell a story lost to time - the creation of the first prototype Witcher and the events that lead to the pivotal “conjunction of the spheres,” when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one. It will be interesting to see how a character like Élie grapples with leaving what sounds like peaceful life as a nomadic musician to go back to a life of catching bodies in the world featured in Blood Line.
