The Fourth Wing TV Series Has Its Violet and Xaden

Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the past four years, the chances are high that you’re at least aware of Fourth Wing. The book by Rebecca Yarros, part of the Empyrean series, is one of the biggest-selling books of the decade so far, and one of the novels most synonymous with the current boom of romantasy fiction. We’re talking about reported sales of 12 million copies worldwide, translated into over 30 languages, and one of the most borrowed (andn banned) titles in American libraries. A big-budget adaptation was, of course, inevitable. Michael B. Jordan is producing, alongside Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, for Amazon Video. And now we have our leads.

The roles of Violet Sorrengail annd Xaden Riorson (sorry, romantasy character names are all like this) will be played by Esther McGregor and Emlia Sakraya. You may recognize McGregor from roles in Babygirl and We Were Liars. And yes, she’s Ewan’s kid. Sakraya was in Warrior Nun and is also a musician. In his native Germany, he’s done a lot of TV work and was on a reality TV series called Sing meinen Song - Das Tauschkonzert. Apparently, he’s also a trained kickboxer, which will come in handy for Fourth Wing.

The books follow Violet, an inductee to the dragon riders quadrant of Basgiath War College, as she fights to stay alive while hiding her chronic illness—the story is inspired by the author’s experiences with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome—and getting spicy with the resident bad boy Xaden. It’s a fun read that seemed primed for a splashy adaptation from the moment it was published. Amazon Video’s plan is to make the first book into season one, then go from there (there are currently three books in the series, plus a collection of short stories, with plans for two more.) It will be interesting to see if this show gets the budget needed to fully live up to Yarros’s vision. Amazon has certainly never been shy about splashing the cash for an epic fantasy adaptation, but it’s with small-scale YA and romance adaptations where they’ve found their niche. A romantasy saga feels like a good way to get some chocolate in that peanut butter. And no, they don’t f**k the dragons.