By “Fourth Wing” fans finally have their Xaden Riorson. Amazon Prime Video announced on Thursday that Emilio Sakraya will play the brooding wing leader opposite Esther McGregor as Violet Sorrengail in its upcoming television adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling romantasy series.
The casting answers the single most debated question among BookTok’s armies of fans: who would embody the two leads of the Empyrean series, the enemies-turned-lovers at the heart of a story about magic-wielding dragon riders. Amazon declined to comment on the announcement, which was first reported by trade press.
Who Is Emilio Sakraya?
Sakraya, 30, is a Berlin-born actor who built his career in Germany before crossing over to international productions. His credits include the boxing drama “Rheingold,” Netflix’s “Tribes of Europa,” “60 Minutes,” “Warrior Nun,” Peacock’s gladiator series “Those About to Die,” and a recent recurring role as rebel leader Koza in the upcoming third season of Netflix’s “One Piece.”
Opposite him, McGregor — the daughter of Ewan McGregor — broke out as Mirren in Prime Video’s “We Were Liars” and has appeared in “Babygirl” and Pedro Almodovar’s “The Room Next Door,” plus Disney+’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” She is currently filming the streamer’s “Life Is Strange.”
Author Rebecca Yarros had one stated condition for the casting: Xaden must not be whitewashed. She spent two years refusing to describe the character’s appearance in interviews precisely to keep the role open — and Sakraya, a German actor of Moroccan descent, fits that mandate.
The World of Basgiath War College
“Fourth Wing,” ordered to series at Amazon in May 2026, is set inside the brutal world of Basgiath War College, where there is only one rule: graduate or die. Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was always expected to live a quiet life, but her mother — a general in the military — orders her to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become dragon riders, the elite of Navarre. There she encounters Xaden, the shadow-wielding wing leader and descendant of a rebellious sect, who believes she may want him dead for what her mother did to his father.
Yarros launched the series with the New York Times bestseller “Fourth Wing” in May 2023, followed by “Iron Flame” (November 2023) and “Onyx Storm” (January 2025). This September she released the novella “Threshing Day,” containing 13 stories set in the Empyrean universe; titles and release dates for the planned fourth and fifth books have yet to be announced.
Meredith Averill (“Anne With an E”) serves as showrunner and executive producer, with Lisa Joy directing the pilot. The show is also executive produced by Kilter Films (Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan and Athena Wickham), Outlier Society (Michael B. Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo) and Premeditated Productions (Liz Pelletier and Sherryl Clark).
Emilio Sakraya (Credits: Variety)
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Source: Variety — read the full story there.
