Forget ‘Game of Thrones,’ Prime Video’s Epic New Fantasy Adaptation Moves Forward With Official Cast

Since Game of Thrones ended in 2019, every major streamer has tried to find its answer in high-fantasy series. From The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power to the upcoming Harry Potter reboot to Apple’s ambitious plans to adapt Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, the genre is everywhere on television. Even HBO has doubled down on Game of Thrones, with House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continuing the franchise.

Another popular genre on television is romance, with titles like Heated Rivalry and Off Campus dominating the streaming charts. With Off Campus as one of Amazon’s biggest hits, the streamer looks to capture that audience as well as the high-fantasy crowd with its upcoming adaptation of the hit fantasy romance Fourth Wing. After ordering the series in 2026, the adaptation has finally cast its highly coveted lead roles.

Deadline reports that Esther McGregor (We Were Liars, Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Emilio Sakraya (Those About To Die, Warrior Nun) have been cast in the lead roles of Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming series Fourth Wing. McGregor will play Violet Sorrengail, a young woman enrolled in the Basgiath War College to become a dragon rider in the kingdom of Navarre. Sakraya will play Xaden Riorson, the leader of the Fourth Wing squad who can wield shadows thanks to his bond with his dragon. The two characters start as enemies but soon fall in love.

Published in 2023, Fourth Wing is a fantasy romance, often called romantasy, by Rebecca Yarros that went viral on TikTok, launching it to No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. It is the first part of the Empyrean series. The sequel, Iron Flame, was published in November 2023, with the third book, Onyx Storm, being published in January 2025. A companion story, Threshing Day, was released on Sept. 29, 2026.

Ester McGregor We Were Liars
Amazon Prime Video
Emilio Sakraya Warrior Nun
Netflix
Fourth Wing cover art is displayed

Amazon MGM announced in October 2023 that it was developing a live-action adaptation of Fourth Wing, five months after the first book in the series was published. Meredith Averill, whose credits include co-showrunner on The Haunting of Hill House and Locke and Key, will serve as Fourth Wing’s showrunner. Michael B. Jordan will executive produce through his production company Outlier Society. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the team behind Westworld, will also serve as executive producers. Lisa Joy will direct the pilot episode. Fourth Wing is set to air on Prime Video.