Henry Cavill joins Netflix's 'The Witcher' as Geralt

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Henry Cavill has been cast as the lead role in Netflix's upcoming television adaptation of fantasy saga The Witcher from Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski.

Cavill will be seen as Geralt of Rivia, a hunter known as a Witcher who uses supernatural abilities to battle deadly monsters.

The eight-episode series, based on Sapkowski's best-selling novels, will follow Geralt as he comes into contact with a powerful sorceress and a young princess with a dark secret.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (Daredevil, The Defenders) is serving as showrunner and executive producer with Alik Sakharov (House of Cards, Game of Thrones). Sakharov will be directing four episodes followed by Alex Garcia Lopez (Luke Cage, Fear the Walking Dead) and Charlotte Brandstrom (Outlander, Counterpart) each directing two episodes.

Cavill, best known for his role as Superman across the DC cinematic universe and who was last seen in July's Mission: Impossible - Fallout, is said to be a fan of the Witcher series. The fantasy drama will mark his first television role after starring as Charles Brandon in Showtime's The Tudors.

The Witcher was previously adapted into a best-selling video game series from developer CD Projekt Red.The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the latest entry in the video game series, took home awards for Game of the Year, Developer of the Year and Best Roleplaying Game during the Game Awards in December 2015.