‘Fourth Wing’ finally casts Violet and Xaden for its Prime Video adaptation

Prime Video has cast its leading actors for the ‘Fourth Wing’ series, including Esther McGregor as Violet Sorrengail and Emilio Sakraya as Xaden Riorson, according to Deadline. The news comes nearly three years after Amazon MGM Studios announced in October 2023 that it would adapt Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling romantasy novels known as the Empyrean series. Violet and Xaden are enemies-turned-lovers in the books.

Esther McGregor, the daughter of Ewan McGregor (‘Trainspotting’), has previous experience in her father’s 2022 Disney+ series ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,’ the 2024 film ‘Babygirl,’ and the 2025 series ‘We Were Liars.’ She will headline ‘Fourth Wing’ in 2026, returning to the streamer that gave her ‘We Were Liars.’ Emilio Sakraya is a German actor and singer whose credits include Netflix’s ‘Warrior Nun,’ the German sci-fi series ‘Tribes of Europa,’ and Peacock’s ‘Those About to Die.’ He previously worked for both German and United States production companies, but notably, he will also appear in the third season of Netflix’s ‘One Piece.’

‘Fourth Wing’ was first published in May 2023 as the first of five planned novels, with ‘Iron Flame’ following in 2023 and ‘Onyx Storm’ in 2025, with the fourth book in the works. In the story, 20-year-old Violet has her sights set on becoming a Scribe before her mother, General Lilith Sorrengail, sends her to the Riders Quadrant at the Basgiath War College in the kingdom of Navarre, where cadets must learn to bond with dragons, and the trials can be fatal. Xaden is a marked one and wing leader of the Fourth Wing, and he wields shadows through his bond with the dragon Sgaeyl. His father, rebellion leader Fen Riorson, was killed by General Sorrengail, which is the exact reason why Xaden and Violet clash from their first meeting. The Threshing links them anyway, because Violet bonds with two dragons, Tairn and Andarna, and Tairn is mated to Sgaeyl, leaving Violet and Xaden telepathically connected.

Amazon MGM Studios bought the rights to the Empyrean books in 2023 and developed the series with Outlier Society, the company of Michael B. Jordan, who has an overall series deal with the studio. The series was ordered in May 2026. Meredith Averill, a writer and producer whose credits include ‘The Haunting of Hill House,’ ‘Locke & Key,’ and ‘Anne with an E,’ is the showrunner, and ‘Westworld’ co-creator Lisa Joy will direct the first episode. Prime Video has not announced a premiere date or when production begins, and the titles and release dates of the fourth and fifth books have not been announced.