At this point, it’s hard not to be familiar with Rebecca Yarros’ “Empyrean” series about dragon rider Violet Sorrengail.
When “Onyx Storm,” the third book in the romantasy series, was released in January 2025, it became the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years.
Yarros is working on the fourth installment in the series, and she recently released a collection of short stories set in the “Empyrean” universe called “Threshing Day.” However, it will still be a while before book four is ready for readers.
In the meantime, though, we’re getting closer to a series adaptation of “Fourth Wing,” which officially found its lead actors.
‘Fourth Wing’ is becoming a TV show
In October 2023, Deadline announced that Amazon MGM Studios and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society were developing “Fourth Wing” into a TV series. Yarros is an executive producer for the show.
Outlier Society produced Jordan’s “Creed III” and is developing a slate of other series and films in addition to “Fourth Wing.”
Deadline also reported in October 2023 that Amazon MGM Studios had acquired the rights to the entire “Empyrean” series. In her January 2025 Variety interview, Yarros said she had shared the “five-book arc” for the “Empyrean” series with Amazon.
“They have the five-book arc, which went a little awry in Book 3 just because the positioning, but they already know that,” she told Variety. “But they have the five-book arc and the general big points of what happens in between each book, but they don’t have the specifics between Book 4 and Book 5, because I’m getting ready to go to my crazy plotting board and plot out every single event that happens in each book, so that I make sure that I’m within my two books there.”
A new showrunner
In July 2024, Outlier Society announced it had hired Moira Walley-Beckett, who worked on shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Anne with an E,” as the showrunner for the series. In a January 2025 interview with Variety, Yarros said Walley-Beckett was “great” and “phenomenal,” but in July 2025, Walley-Beckett exited the project.
Variety reported in September 2025 that Meredith Averill was taking over as showrunner. Averill was previously the showrunner of the Netflix series “Locke & Key” and a producer on shows like “The Good Wife” and “The Haunting of Hill House.”
Amazon declined to comment on this piece when contacted by Business Insider, but Yarros shared a screenshot of a Deadline article about the showrunner announcement on her Instagram when it dropped.
“Welcome to the team, Meredith Averill! Guys, I love everything this wonderful woman has worked on and I’m so excited to have her joining us,” Yarros said in her caption.
‘Fourth Wing’ is in the works
In January 2026, Jordan assured fans the “Fourth Wing” show was on its way in an interview with Deadline.
“We 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’t be expecting either,” Jordan said.
He also told the outlet that he’s aware of how much fans of “Fourth Wing” care about the series.
“But trust me, I know how beloved this franchise IP is,” he said. “It’s early stages, but I feel how much people care about this one. It’s not lost on us.”
And on May 11, 2026, Jordan announced the show had been ordered to series for Prime Video at the Amazon Upfront, an annual event where Amazon offers a sneak peek at its coming content.
Yarros and Averill joined Jordan onstage at the event, as did Lisa Joy, an executive producer on the show who will direct the first episode. Joy has previously worked on shows like HBO’s “Westworld” and Prime Video’s “Fallout.”
Yarros posted about the event on her Instagram story, sharing a photo of herself, Jordan, Averill, and Joy, writing, “What an absolutely wild night! So grateful for this team!”
Meet Violet and Xaden
The Amazon Upfront seemed to build momentum for the show, as it was announced in October that the Prime Video series had cast its Violet Sorrengail and her enemy turned lover Xaden Riorson. Deadline first reported the casting on October 15, 2026, though the streamer didn’t confirm that news until October 21.
Esther McGregor will play Violet. McGregor, the 24-year-old daughter of Ewan McGregor, appeared in “Babygirl” and “We Were Liars,” another Amazon adaptation.
Meanwhile, 30-year-old Emilio Sakraya has been cast as Xaden. The German actor is known for projects like “Rheingold” and the popular Netflix series “Warrior Nun.” Both actors are relative newcomers, though, with their “Fourth Wing” casting marking a big step in their careers.
McGregor reshared Amazon’s post about her casting to her Instagram story, writing, “So beyond excited. Honored. Thrilled.”
Sakraya also shared the post to his Instagram story, but he captioned it with a quote from “Iron Flame,” the second book in Yarros’ series, in a fun nod to the text: “My house. My chair. My Woman.”
In a statement shared by Amazon, Yarros said, “I’m so grateful to our producing and casting team for conducting a thorough, worldwide search to find Violet and Xaden. It will be incredibly exciting to see these talented actors, Esther and Emilio, bring our beloved characters to life on screen.”
Yarros said at a London event in August 2024 that she intentionally never shared any hopes for which actors may be cast in the show.
“I will never say who my perfect fan cast is because the cast is so diverse, and I want to open that up to more diversity,” she said. “And I feel like the second I say who I think this character is, that’s who everyone will accept. That’s only who they will accept.”
“I kinda hope they find, like, an up-and-coming generation,” she added. “But I would never put my fan cast in your heads.”
At the same event, she clarified that she wouldn’t be involved in the casting process, but that she had shared one hard-line casting request with Amazon and Outlier Society.
“They know how staunch I am against whitewashing Xaden,” she said. “I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Xaden is described as having “warm tawny skin” in “Fourth Wing” and “tawny-brown” skin in both “Iron Flame” and “Onyx Storm.” Sakraya was born in Germany to a Serbian father and a Moroccan mother, according to an interview with German Films Quarterly.
Amazon did not provide any additional details on casting or when filming for the series may begin.
Yarros talked about the series’ pilot while on a book tour for ‘Onyx Storm’
Although details about the series are limited, Yarros made a few comments about the show while promoting “Onyx Storm.”
Speaking at an engagement on January 24, 2025, in New York, Yarros told fans she had read the pilot for the “Fourth Wing” show — and loved it.
“I read the latest version of the pilot last week,” she said. “It’s really nerve-racking when you read something like that because you’re really — you’re trusting someone else with your baby, right? And you’re trusting someone else to say, like, ‘Hey, this is important in your work, and this isn’t,’ and you kinda get your guard up.”
“But guys, I, like, kicked my feet the whole time,” she said. “You’re gonna love it.”
Yarros also praised Walley-Beckett at the event, calling her a “brilliant writer” and saying she maintained the book’s integrity in the pilot. It’s unclear how the pilot may have changed since Walley-Beckett’s exit from the project.
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