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If you\u2019ve been refreshing your BookTok<\/a> feed, scrolling Bookstagram fan edits, or debating fancasts in your group chat since October 2023, you already know: the Empyrean series is headed to the screen. But the journey from page to Prime Video has been anything but straightforward \u2014 and there\u2019s a lot to unpack about where the adaptation stands right now.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s every confirmed detail, every juicy casting rumor, and every key quote worth bookmarking.<\/p>\n It became official in October 2023 when Prime Video announced it would be adapting Rebecca Yarros<\/strong>\u2019s entire Empyrean book series into a TV series. The project is being developed with actor Michael B. Jordan<\/strong>\u2019s production company, Outlier Society.<\/p>\n As of now, it\u2019s unclear when the Fourth Wing<\/em> show will premiere. Prime Video has not shared many updates on the show\u2019s development. The Empyrean books themselves are still being published, with the most recent third book titled Onyx Storm<\/em> releasing in January 2025.<\/p>\n That said, Jordan himself offered a reassuring update in a January 2026 interview with Deadline<\/em><\/a>, and his words should settle at least some nerves in the fandom.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are making sure that this is going to be an exciting show that delivers on all of the things the fans want and some of the things that they won\u2019t be expecting either,\u201d he said. \u201cBut trust me, I know how beloved this franchise IP is, and we\u2019re diligently\u2026We\u2019re in the lab, we\u2019re cooking up. We got it. It\u2019s coming. It\u2019s early stages, but I feel how much people care about this one. It\u2019s not lost on us.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s one of the biggest behind-the-scenes developments fans need to know about. The show experienced a shakeup in July when the original showrunner, Moira Walley-Beckett<\/strong>, left the production. That\u2019s the kind of news that can send a fandom spiraling, but the follow-up was promising.<\/p>\n Deadline reported in late September 2025 that Amazon MGM Studios had found her replacement \u2014 Meredith Averill<\/strong>. The TV producer is best known for executive producing Wednesday<\/em> season 2 and The Haunting of Hill House.<\/em><\/p>\n For readers invested in the tone and emotional depth of Yarros\u2019s books, Averill\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is noteworthy. Her track record suggests experience with genre storytelling that blends dark atmospherics with compelling character dynamics \u2014 exactly the kind of balance the Empyrean series demands.<\/p>\n Now for the part everyone really wants to talk about.<\/p>\n Prime Video has yet to announce any cast members for the upcoming series. No one is officially attached to any role. But that hasn\u2019t stopped the fandom from building extensive fancast lists \u2014 and the speculation around who will play 20-year-old heroine Violet Sorrengail and her love interest, Xaden Riorson, has been relentless.<\/p>\n One detail the author herself has confirmed: Xaden will be played by a person of color. Speaking to Variety<\/em><\/a> in November 2023, Yarros was deliberate about why she held back on sharing a detailed physical description during the height of fan speculation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just going to say he\u2019s POC; we\u2019re just going to leave it at that. I didn\u2019t rise to the bait of a lot of those [fan] posts, which I think probably got me some flak, but I knew we were already in development for TV, and I want to make sure that role is open to as much diversity as possible. So I was never going to give the readers my vision because I know that once you give the readers your vision, that\u2019s what they\u2019re gonna stick to. And I wanted to make sure we left it open to as much diversity as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n So who\u2019s on the shortlist in fandom circles? A few names keep rising to the top.<\/p>\n Australian star Josh Heuston<\/strong> is often mentioned to play either Xaden or Bodhi, his younger cousin. Heuston was asked about the fan speculation on a red carpet by Bravo Australia<\/a>, and when asked if they could call him Xaden, he responded, \u201cYou have to ask the scribes, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a playful non-denial if there ever was one \u2014 and it\u2019s the kind of response that keeps the fandom buzzing.<\/p>\n Beyond Heuston, Emilio Sakraya<\/strong> is often listed as a Xaden fancast, and Mackenzie Foy<\/strong> is often mentioned for Violet.<\/p>\n To be clear: none of these names have been confirmed by Prime Video or the production team. These are fan-driven conversations. But in a fandom this engaged, the speculation itself becomes part of the experience \u2014 and it\u2019s worth tracking as official announcements inch closer.<\/p>\n If you aren\u2019t yet all too familiar with Violet Sorrengail and her angry-and-ripped love interest Xaden, here\u2019s the core setup for what\u2019s at stake in the TV show: In the book, there are dragons, and those dragons meet their riders at an elite school known as Basgiath War College. There, small Violet eschews what she thought would be a quiet life as a scribe for a chance to spar alongside other riders and bond with not one but two dragons. She also meets the traitorous Xaden Riorson, a wingleader already bonded to the dragon Sgaeyl, as he helps train Violet for dragonback, and for the war threatening their homeland of Navarre.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nPrime Video Secured the Rights \u2014 and Michael B. Jordan Is Producing<\/h2>\n
The Showrunner Shakeup: What Happened and Why It Matters<\/h2>\n
The Casting Conversation: Who Will Play Violet and Xaden?<\/h2>\n
The Names Circulating in Fan Speculation<\/h2>\n