Cast This: Sara Pezzini (Witchblade)

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The Witchblade is a supernatural, sentient gauntlet which is hundreds of thousands of years old, and when bonded with a female host, it provides her with a variety of abilities to battle against supernatural evil. It also lifts and separates because, hey, it was the nineties. Created by Marc Silvestri, David Wohl, Brian Haberlin, Christina Z, and Michael Turner, Witchblade began at Top Cow Productions back in 1995 and became a major success for the studio for twenty years. Such popularity meant that it was only inevitable that Witchblade would cross over into other media, and the series would go on to spawn a TV show as well as an anime series. A feature-film was also in development nearly a decade ago which was to be helmed by Battlestar Galactica director Michael Rymer, but the production never got off the ground.

It seems that Witchblade is destined to return to television, and although we haven't heard much about the project since it was first announced, NBC tapped Carol Mendelsohn (CSI) and Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries) to adapt the Top Cow comic for a new series last year. Caroline Dries was slated to pen the script and executive produce the pilot, which will center on homicide detective Sara Pezzini. While navigating the grisly streets and police politics of San Francisco's Mission District on the hunt for an elusive serial killer, a bracelet she has worn for her entire life suddenly "gives her supernatural insight into a crime she’s trying to solve. Her bracelet is the Witchblade, an amulet that has been worn by remarkable women throughout history, and Sara is next in line." The previous TV series, which starred Yancy Butler, kicked off with a TV movie and spanned two seasons before it was cancelled despite its popularity, allegedly due to Butler's issues with alcohol.

Even without the Witchblade, Sara Pezzini quickly proves herself to be an extremely capable homicide detective, but the ancient weapon provides Pezzini with a wide variety of superhuman abilities, including enhanced strength, energy blasts, flight, and an impressive healing factor, which makes the detective quite the formidable force. As for who could play Sara Pezzini, well, Hollywood certainly has no shortage of beautiful actresses who would physically match the role, but Pezzini would need something more, a certain toughness and determination would be required in order to successfully struggle against the violent nature of the Witchblade. I'll throw out a few suggestions to help get you started. In True Blood, Deborah Ann Woll frequently had to struggle against her darker nature as Jessica the vampire, and as a huge fan of Fringe (and Mindhunter for that matter), I'd love to see Anna Torv take the lead in a new genre series. As for my final suggestion, I'll throw Tatiana Maslany out there, who we've seen tackle more than a dozen separate characters on Orphan Black and could absolutely nail Sara Pezzini.

Remember, you're free to suggest anyone in the comments, so let your inner casting director run wild!

Previously on Cast This, you were asked to fill the role of the now adult Danny Torrance in Mike Flanagan's upcoming adaptation of "Doctor Sleep," Stephen King's sequel to "The Shining." I was pleased to see that my suggestion of Sam Rockwell, who walked away with the Best Supporting Actor Award at last weekend's Academy Awards, resonated with you, but as usual you were able to contribute several more great possibilities for the role such as Giovanni Ribisi and Ashton Kutcher.