The Witcher Season 4 arrived on the 2025 TV schedule not long ago, and many fans have already gone all-in on Liam Hemsworth’s first season as Geralt of Rivia. The fantasy drama (which you can watch with a Netflix subscription) saw some big behind-the-scenes changes for the new set of episodes, but the same can be said for the characters we’ve followed since 2019. Now that most audiences have seen a major Season 4 death and gotten very upset about it, the showrunner has opened up about why Geralt “needed” it to happen right now. And, yes, there are SPOILERS AHEAD.

Who Died On The Witcher Season 4 And What Fans And The Showrunner Have Said About It

If there’s only one thing that can be said to be totally accurate about The Witcher for all of its run, it’s that loads of characters, major and not so much, die on a regular basis. The monster-filled fantasy has always been a bloody one, but the season which saw the cast and crew sweetly welcome new White Wolf Liam Hemsworth to the “gang” also saw the death of someone who’s very important to Geralt: his Witcher father figure, Vesemir.

This has caused some strife in the Witcher fandom, as the character survives in the books on which the series is based. Of course, we’ve been in this spot before, with changes to the book story getting a lot of flak previously, and partially being blamed for beloved star Henry Cavill deciding to depart after Season 3. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich opened up to Variety about why they felt the time was right for Vesemir to die, and said:

A lot of fans have definitely been of the opinion that it appeared that Vesemir was killed off simply for shock value. He and two of his remaining Witchers were called in by Yennefer to help her prepare the few mages she’d manage to assemble for their giant fight with Vilgefortz.

Unfortunately, Vesemir took the evil magic-user on himself, and quickly lost the fight. Viewers are also annoyed that when our hero finds out about his surrogate dad dying, well, Geralt simply doesn’t seem too pressed about the tragedy.

According to Schmidt Hissrich, with Geralt’s heroic actions finally seeing him realize his childhood dream of becoming an actual knight happening by the end of the season, Vesemir’s death (despite him not being present for it and having to be told about it later by Yen) comes at an important time for the former loner. Much of his journey throughout the series has been to recognize Ciri and Yen as his found family and how much he’s willing to put aside his previous life of remaining neutral at all costs to protect and help them.

So, it seems that Vesemir’s death will set him on a new path in the final season of The Witcher, where he fully abandons what he wants so that he can keep Ciri (especially) safe.

Warning: Spoilers for The Witcher Season 3 Vol. 2 ending are ahead. Come back once you’ve watched the full season!

Well, after several months of wondering not only how The Witcher will wrap things up in its latest season, but how star Henry Cavill will depart his role as Geralt of Rivia, fans have finally been able to binge the final episodes and see where we leave Ciri, her gruff protector, Yennefer, and a host of other characters.

The Witcher Season 3 Vol. 2 ending has helped the show land back at number one for those with a Netflix subscription (despite the previous downturn in viewers for the first part, released in June), and brought our characters to some very new emotional territory after the events of the Vol. 1 ending. Let’s dig in, shall we?

How Ciri Escaped Capture

Well, poor Ciri has been on the run for a full three seasons now, so I suppose no one should be surprised that she had to escape three times over the course of Vol. 2’s three episodes. First, after heading to Aretuza and finding both Yen and Geralt in the midst of the coup, she had to escape from Vilgefortz. That saw her magically transported to the middle of the desert in Korath, where she wandered for several days and finally got close enough to civilization (with the help of a unicorn and visions of legendary elven leader Falka) to…get captured by a group of folks looking to win the reward for taking her to Emhyr in Nilfgaard.

Ciri awoke in a tavern, tied to a post while a young man was tied to another, as her captors took a break before heading to the emperor. As they discussed her with other patrons, we hear someone tell them that Ciri couldn’t be Ciri, because word has come from Emhyr that she’s already on her way to the palace (though it turns out that Vilgefortz has delivered Teryn to the emperor, the Aretuza apprentice Geralt had earlier rescued from experiments).

During their conversation, she manages to get one of them to come over and feed her, allowing her to steal a knife so that they can cut themselves loose. When a fight starts between the patrons, we’re introduced to the young man’s friends, a group known as the Rats, and when they’ve dispatched most of the patrons, they have Ciri fight the man who’d fed her and then held her at knife point during the melee. 

The princess wins, making her first human kill, and when a Rat asks who she is, she tells them to call her Falka, making it seem that Ciri will be with them for a while.

Yennefer’s In Charge Of The Mages Now

The Thanedd Coup killed/seriously injured a lot of mages, and left Tissaia white haired and somewhat broken after using some last resort magic to clear out the last of their elven attackers. Several of the female mages who’ve survived journeyed to where Geralt fought the creature made of the apprentices Vilgefortz experimented on, undid the magic that bound them and took them back to Aretuza for burial.

Yen had been hoping to find Ciri there, but, of course, had no luck. The trip did help to cement everyone’s desire to get back what they’d lost during the coup, and once they’re back at Aretuza, Yen tries to convince a guilty Tissaia that Vilgefortz’s betrayal wasn’t her fault. Unfortunately, her teacher/mentor doesn’t listen, and kills herself. Yen then heads to Brokilon, where Geralt is recovering from his near-fatal fight with the traitorous mage, and heals him enough to really get him back on his feet, making him promise they’ll see each other again. 

When she’s back at Aretuza, Yen rallies the remaining high-ranking female mages in an effort to finally take down Vilgefortz, and, without Tissaia or the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, her mission now is to lead them. 

How Henry Cavill's Geralt Ended Season 3

This has been the big question since we found out that Cavill was leaving, and would be replaced by Liam Hemsworth, in October 2022. We were promised a “heroic sendoff” for his Geralt amid rumors of some pretty serious creative conflicts between him and the team behind the fantasy hit, but I doubt that many fans would see his last scene that way.

As noted, Geralt’s beach-front battle with Vilgefortz left his sword destroyed and him (literally) broken and close to death, with the hero nearly drowning until Triss found him and took him to Brokilon so the dryads could work on healing him in a safe place. He’s desperate to hear some word of Yen and, especially, Ciri’s whereabouts, since he had to send her fleeing from the beach before the fight and didn’t know what happened to her.

When Jaskier finds him, he’s eventually able to tell a slowly recovering and very stubborn Geralt about Emhyr’s declaration that Ciri is headed to Nilfgaard. Once Yen heals him enough to get him fully upright, he and Jaskier begin to make their way to Emhyr’s stronghold. However, after managing to get the Nilfgaardian guards to let them through, Geralt takes exception to the family behind them being turned away.

The White Wolf heads back and kills nearly all the guards at the checkpoint, then deals a final blow to his neutrality by telling the one remaining guard to give Emhyr the message that he “will free Ciri” before he, Jaskier, and the elven archer Milva (who’d secretly followed them out of Brokilon to help) take some of the guards’ horses and continue on their way to Nilfgaard. 

So, what does this mean? This means that our last shot of Cavill as Geralt is him and his cohorts (and their horses) walking away from the camera. Which was…a definite choice that’s not quite the “strong” Cavill exit many were probably hoping for. Though, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich explained to Tudum that his battle with the soldiers and parting words for Emhyr are what matters most, and said:

We’ve been teased that it’s possible some multiverse-esque explanation will be given for Geralt looking completely different in The Witcher Season 4, but we now have a good wait ahead of us before we find out whether or not that comes to pass. If anything, we can certainly say that Geralt, Yen, and Ciri will, once again, face some new challenges whenever the fourth season finally rolls around.

Fantasy fans who have a Netflix subscription are getting closer to the day that’s been nearly two years in the making, as June 29 will mark the debut of the first half of The Witcher’s third season. The lead up to this premiere has been filled with quite a bit of controversy, as we found out way back at the end of October 2022 that it will be star Henry Cavill’s last season playing Geralt of Rivia. As we prepare for The Witcher Season 3 premiere, however, the creative team has promised that it’ll be “very close to the book.”

What Did The Witcher Creative Team Say About Season 3 And The Books?

Cavill being replaced after the third season by Liam Hemsworth was a move that stunned and angered fans to the point where many signed a petition calling for the writers to be fired instead. The White Wolf himself simply said that he was “laying down my medallion and my swords,” but there has been loads of speculation that the show’s writers disliked/disrespected The Witcher books, which caused friction, many changes to the source material, and led to the premature departure. In the recently released clip shown above, however, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and executive producer Tomek Bagiński discussed the upcoming season, and said:

Schmidt Hissrich: Season 3 is mostly based on The Time of Contempt. Not only are the stories really fun and epic, I think it has some real fan-favorite moments.

Bagiński: And this time, I think the season is very, very close to the book.

Now, we’ve known since late 2021 (shortly after Season 2 hit the streamer) that the writers were largely using the second Witcher novel, The Time of Contempt, as the impetus for Season 3’s storytelling. But, as with any book-to-screen adaptation, the series had already made several changes throughout the first two seasons from the work of Andrzej Sapkowski, which it seemed that the star was less than enthused with, to the point of possibly considering exiting as Geralt right after the second season.

It seems that his final season as the character afforded him what his wish was all along, to show a version of Geralt that matched the one so beloved in the books, and with many of the “fan-favorite moments” from the novel, to boot. 

These will include the events of the first novel, Blood of Elves, which will likely come in the first episode, as the title of the premiere is “Shaerrawedd,” and a scene from that episode was likely shared over the weekend, where Ciri got to show off her badass new fighting moves. That will then lead us naturally to the events of the second novel, like the explanation of Ciri's bloodline heritage and what happens to her there. Even better, we might just be getting one of Geralt’s most memorable battles during the season.

All in all, it sounds like fans will be in for a great time, and that, as promised, Season 3 really will be a “heroic sendoff” for Cavill.

TV viewers with a Netflix subscription know that the fantasy hit, The Witcher, has made news for lots of things since it debuted in late 2019. Something that has captured fan attention the most, likely because many who watch are also fans of the book series on which the show is based or the video game franchise, is how the story of Witcher Geralt, sorceress Yennefer, and the powerful Princess Ciri has played out on screen. While we’re all looking ahead toward Henry Cavill’s last go-round in the fast-approaching The Witcher Season 3, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has opened up about the blowback she got from fans after Season 2.

What Did The Witcher’s Showrunner Say About Fan Criticism After Season 2?

This series really knows how to wrap a set of episodes, and The Witcher Season 2 ending was no different. A lot of big reveals were made, but, possibly most importantly, we saw that Yen and Geralt were fully on the outs. He couldn’t forgive her for trying (for far too long) to hand Ciri over to the Deathless Mother, which led to the young woman’s possession by the ancient being, and the deaths of several other Witchers. It turns out that fans were not cool with this turn of events, and let Schmidt Hissrich know it. In relaying some of those comments to Entertainment Weekly recently, she said:

Of course, this is part of what we’ll be treated to in the upcoming season. Ciri still needs a lot of training when it comes to harnessing her mysterious powers, and Yen is the best person for that gig. So, Geralt has made it clear that he can tolerate her presence as long as she’s helping his child of surprise, and though they are all hiding from the many forces who seek Ciri for their own nefarious purposes, the trio will head to Aretuza so that the woman who ended the Battle of Sodden Hill can do just that.

Every season of this magic and creature-focused show has come with complaints about something with regards to the storyline. Many were less than enthused with the controversial multiple timelines of Season 1, and now the third outing will have to deal with Yen’s betrayal in the second season. Even if you didn’t enjoy watching her attempt to sell out Ciri (and Geralt by default), you can’t deny that it brings the story to an intriguing point, where our three main characters both need each other and can’t part ways, but Yen also has a lot of work to do when regaining the trust of her companion and student.

Anya Chalotra, who portrays Yen and also participated in the interview, noted that her character will put much “time and energy and effort” into making amends at the start of the new season, and that it will lead to “a real family dynamic” which will develop “quite quickly and quite organically.” In addition, Schmidt Hissrich said that it won’t be all strife, mistrust, and battles for our three heroes:

How can you not love the idea of that? The series will return for Season 3 Volume 1 (which is five episodes) on June 29, with Volume 2 (the remaining three) debuting on July 27.

The biggest news when it comes to the forthcoming The Witcher Season 3 and those with a Netflix subscription for the past several months has been the departure of star Henry Cavill, who announced it himself way back in October 2022. The third season is his last as Geralt, with the role having already been turned over to Liam Hemsworth going forward. The reveal caused a lot of anger among the fandom, but now we all have something more positive to think about, because the fantasy hit has just revealed the first footage from Cavill’s final season, along with its new release strategy.

What Happens In The First Footage From Henry Cavill’s Final Season Of The Witcher?

Look, I could easily spend a paragraph or two telling you all about the first glimpse we’ve gotten of The Witcher Season 3, but wouldn’t you prefer to see it all for yourself so that we can talk about it like informed adults? Yeah, I knew you would! Observe:

Well, well, well! The Wild Hunt looks to be gunning for Ciri, and hard. But, that’s not the only development revealed in the teaser (which was posted to the streamer's YouTube channel) worth noting. The spot opens with Geralt preparing to fight, as he gets his full Witcher powers going. But, he also notes that he now understands “real fear” for “the first time.” We don’t see what he’s about to battle, but my guess is that his words have nothing to do with whatever monster Geralt has geared up to fight in the clip.

He, Ciri, and Yennefer were all transported to the home of The Wild Hunt during the Season 2 ending, and they all know that they’re after the powerful young princess. Unfortunately, the ghostly riders appear to now be on the Continent and much more capable of snatching Ciri for their own nefarious purposes, and one quick scene of the teaser shows them getting very close to accomplishing their goal, as a rider manages to put his hand on her shoulder while she’s trying to escape. Oooh, boy!

The gruff Witcher spent a significant portion of Season 1 trying to find Ciri, then all of the second season training her and working very hard to protect the young woman, but battling The Wild Hunt could easily prove to be one of the most intense fights Geralt has had so far. The clip also shows a bit of what Yenn will get up to, though the fact that she seems to be wearing the same outfit as when she first met Geralt for some of her time in the teaser implies that she may spend some time trapped in a hallucination or something else that’s magically induced.

We also get another showdown between Geralt and nearly unstoppable fire mage Rience (Please save that cat!), someone threatening Jaskier, and a warning that “everything changes” when the new season debuts this summer. And, with what the teaser shows next, it’s clear that that’s true in at least one, non-casting/non-story, aspect.

The Witcher Is Changing How It Releases Season 3

We’ve known since the Tudum Fan Event in September 2022 that this summer would see the release of the new season, but we now know exactly when that will be, and that the season will actually be released in two parts. The Witcher Season 3, Volume 1 debuts on June 29, while we’ll be able to watch Volume 2 exactly four weeks later, on July 27. This is the first time the fantasy has ever split up a season.

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told Tudum that she and her writers “didn’t have batching in mind” as they planned or wrote Season 3, but the story of the novel that this will be based on made it an easy decision. She added:

Of course, there’s also the (not so) little matter of this being the lead’s last season as Ciri’s surrogate father, which pissed fans off so much that they started a petition to have Cavill rehired and the writers fired instead (though there's no evidence that abandoning ship wasn't fully the actor's decision). Much controversy and many rumors about him leaving have followed, but this season has been said to provide viewers with a “heroic sendoff” for the star, and now we know exactly when it will all unfold.

It was just a little over a month ago that those with a Netflix subscription who adore watching Henry Cavill’s Geralt grunt his way through learning to be a father figure to Ciri got a huge shock. The actor, who had recently been reinstated as DC’s big screen Superman, released a statement noting that the upcoming The Witcher Season 3 would be his last time in the white wig, and officially handed his duties off to Liam Hemsworth, his replacement. Fans were angry enough to start a petition, and now the showrunner has finally responded.

What Did The Witcher’s Showrunner Say About Henry Cavill Leaving The Series?

With several weeks of rumors floating around about why he left, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich spoke to our sister site, TechRadar, at the UK junket for The Witcher: Blood Origin, the show’s first live action spinoff, which debuts later this month. When asked about the outpouring of fan negativity, she said:

Viewer outrage and confusion began immediately after the news of Hemsworth taking over as Geralt in Season 4 was announced. People openly wondered about the reasoning behind the seemingly sudden departure, noting how Cavill had lobbied so hard to play Geralt in the first place and always talked about how big of a fan he was of the books the show is based on (along with loving the video games). 

Some of the rumors pointed to how Cavill would speak openly about wanting to stick to the books as much as possible even as the fantasy series tried to find its own way forward with the material. By the time word came out about him saying goodbye to the drama after the third season (which finished filming by mid-September 2022), though, we’d already gotten word from a former producer on The Witcher, Beau DeMayo, who revealed his thoughts that many of the writers “actively disliked the books and games” to the point of “actively mocking the source material.” 

Cavill’s fandom and desire to stay true to the books, combined with DeMayo’s words, has led many to believe that the star simply saw the writing on the wall, realized that the show would never be what he’d hoped, and cut his losses by finally severing ties with the action-packed show. That fan petition, which still has people signing and is currently past 277,800 supporters, actually calls for the show to fire the writers and find a way to bring the Geralt we already know back on board.

Though we still have Season 3 of The Witcher to look forward to when it comes to more of Cavill’s work as lead, Schmidt Hissrich is trying to keep viewers on board as much as possible, even while understanding their anger. She told IGN that she was “really excited” about the fact that “we get new energy and chemistry that we haven’t discovered yet” with the recasting, and here’s hoping that fans (eventually) feel the same way.

There have certainly been some rather unexpected shake ups in the world of The Witcher since the second season was brought to those with a Netflix subscription on December 17, 2021. However, if you still consider yourself a diehard fan, and have now rewatched the whole series through The Witcher Season 2 ending (and even done the same with The Witcher: Blood Origin ending) in preparation for what’s next, you’ll be glad to know that new episodes are quickly approaching, and will hit the streamer before you know it.

You, like so many fans, must be very eager to get the third season of the fantasy hit into your adoring eyeballs, but you probably also have loads of questions about what comes next for Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, and their assorted friends and foes (not to mention a what’s going on with a certain cast member). Fortunately, we do know quite a bit about what the next set of episodes will entail. So, without further ado, let’s dig into some of the things we know about The Witcher Season 3!

What Is The Witcher Season 3 Premiere Date

The flagship show in the already launched Witcher franchise will leave us waiting a bit, but not for too much longer, as it was revealed in late April 2023 that The Witcher Season 3 will premiere on June 29. This news came when the first teaser debuted, and that short clip (which I’ll talk more about a bit later) also let fans know that, unfortunately, the season will be split into two parts, with Volume 2 coming along four weeks later, on July 27. 

Season 3 Will Be Henry Cavill’s Last As Geralt Of Rivia, But The Witcher Already Has His Replacement

The April 2022 Netflix announcement that filming had begun on the season revealed via photo that stars Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan would all reprise their roles. But, viewers were dealt a major blow not long after Season 3 wrapped production, as late October of the same year saw Cavill announce that it would be his last outing in Geralt’s armor. The star took to Instagram and not only shared his thanks for the time he was able to spend helping to bring the world to life, but formally passed the torch to his already-cast replacement, The Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth.

This news literally sent shockwaves through the fandom, with a number of rumors springing up about why Cavill left The Witcher, when his reported dissatisfaction with the series began, and more. Fan upset culminated (very quickly) in a petition to bring the former lead back to the fantasy drama and, instead, fire the writers of the show, with many angry fans also seeming mobilized to drop both the show and Netflix should Season 4 debut without the actor as previously planned. The showrunner responded to the fallout by noting to TechRadar that his departure is “a big deal for us, too,” but as of this writing that’s done nothing to stem the tide of negative fan reactions.

For those wondering, it looks like other important players, like Joey Batey as Jaskier, will return as well. 

Robbie Amell And Three Others Have Been Added To The Cast

It was also in April 2022 that Deadline reported that Season 3 will have four new characters and cast members. Robbie Amell (Upload) will take on the part of elf soldier Gallatin, who heads up a group of guerrilla Scoia’tael fighting for Nilfgaard. He’s described as being very willing to speak his mind, and incredibly loyal to the elves, which will lead to him becoming embroiled in a power struggle with current elf leader, Francesca.

Meng’er Zhang (Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings) is set to appear as “fierce and talented huntress” Milva, a human who was adopted by Brokilon Forest’s dryad population. Milva is said to be a true survivor who makes for a very stern opponent, with those who get on her bad side doing so “at their peril.”

Meanwhile, Christelle Elwin (The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself) and Hugh Skinner (Fleabag) portray Mistle and Prince Radovid, respectively. Mistle is part of the teen gang known as The Rats, and has appropriately been hardened by her time living on the streets. She doesn’t trust others easily (if at all) and is looking for revenge when we meet her. Radovid, on the other hand, is a princely “playboy” and the younger sibling to King Vizimir, who’s actually very intelligent when it comes to politics and will soon find himself very well aligned within Redanian Intelligence.

You Can Now Watch The Trailer!

With the premiere of the upcoming season no longer that far away, we were finally granted the very first full trailer on June 8, 2023, and you can bet that “action” is, indeed, the right word for what we see. Take a look!

They’ve certainly given us enough to get fans hyped for the first half of the season, right? We hear Geralt talking about understanding “real fear” for “the first time,” watch him put his sword to good use, get glimpses of Ciri being a total badass, see Yen show off her reinstated powers, and have some good lighter moments with Jaskier. More importantly, though, we see that The Wild Hunt are, apparently, now fully on the Continent, and watch as they appear to chase the powerful princess. Sign me up for this action!

Season 3 Will See The Main Trio Hiding As Yennefer Trains Ciri

When the information about production starting was released, we also got an official synopsis for the season, which sheds a lot of light on the action to come, and says:

Wow. This just gets better, doesn’t it?

The Showrunner Says That Cavill Will Get ‘The Most Heroic Sendoff’

Late December 2022 saw showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich discuss the upcoming season with Entertainment Weekly, and while she confirmed that the third outing wasn’t originally written as Cavill’s swan song, she also said that it will serve as “the most heroic sendoff” for the actor. She added:

I think any fans who aren’t completely turned off by Cavill leaving the series will now be very excited for Season 3.

The Upcoming Season Is Based On The Fourth Witcher Book, The Time Of Contempt

Though fans know that the series has made notable changes from the books so far, the actual plot of the upcoming season isn’t purely created for the Netflix fantasy. Schmidt Hissrich wasted no time in giving fans solid info when it comes to how storylines for our main protagonists will progress, as she shared the basis for The Witcher Season 3 plot with TechRadar in December 2021:

For those who haven’t yet read any of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, The Time of Contempt is the second full-length novel in his Witcher series and the fourth book overall. A lot happens in that story (Hint: we might see a unicorn on the show!), so we are probably in for yet another action-packed season. In fact…

The Witcher Season 3 Will Have 'Tons Of Action' Over A Short Amount Of Time

Plenty of viewers were confused by the multiple timelines used to introduce the characters and their struggles in the first season, and everyone was very happy to have our trio all in the present day (after the sacking of Cintra) during Season 2. While chatting with The Wrap about the third season in January 2022, Schmidt Hissrich noted that viewers will see “tons of action” in the next installment and that it will all happen during a relatively short period of time. After saying that she believes The Time of Contempt "is a very easily adaptable book," the showrunner continued:

Love it and can't wait to see it!

The Witcher Season 3 Will Introduce The Army Of Elves And An Important Elven Location

The second season gave audiences way more elf activity than we’d had in the freshman outing, and for good reason. It turns out that Schmidt Hissrich and her team changed the story of the first full novel (Blood of Elves), on which the second season was based, because they planned to introduce an important part of the books for the third season, the army of elves (the Scoia’tael, of which Robbie Amell’s Gallatin is an important member, as mentioned above), and needed to have a proper setup for the coming story. As she explained to Polygon in December 2021:

EW got the inside scoop on the very first episode of Season 3 in December 2022, and was able to reveal that the title is “Shaerrawedd,” meaning that the episode will feature some important events from the book, Blood of Elves. The location was once an elven palace, which was destroyed by their own elders over 200 years before the events of the book. It’s also where an important scene between Ciri and Geralt happens.

The showrunner noted that the episode will “start to explain Ciri's bloodline and all of the things that are gonna happen to her that come to the surface in The Time of Contempt,” while also starting “this path to forgiveness” after Yennefer fell prey to Voleth Meir in Season 2, leading her to betray Geralt’s wishes for Ciri.

There Might Be Some Surprising Deaths Coming In Season 3

This last point is still a bit of a mystery. Before the second set of episodes had even debuted, Schmidt Hissrich came right out (during a convention covered by ComicBook in October 2021) and told fans that “some death” was coming during Season 3. The Witcher, obviously, is the kind of show where living things die all the time, and usually because they’ve been killed (R.I.P. Roach). We already know that a lot more death is coming, so her pointing it out makes it seem like a major death (or deaths) is on the way. I can think of at least one such demise from The Time of Contempt that would rock the Continent, but they could easily pull from others books or veer from what was written originally altogether to really surprise us.

I have no doubt that The Witcher Season 3 will give us plenty more to talk about in the months ahead, and until we know more, be sure to see what you can watch right now with our 2023 TV schedule, and the current list of Netflix new releases!

Season 2 of The Witcher finally debuted on Netflix in December, meaning that we had a nearly two-year wait to catch up with the trials, triumphs, and additional trials of Ciri, Yennefer, Geralt, and their allies after the big battle that wrapped the first season. Even though this means that those behind the fantasy hit have spent a lot of time thinking about the most recent set of episodes, it doesn’t mean that they haven’t spent any time at all reflecting on what they did in Season 1. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich recently opened up about regretting the lack of time spent with Ciri at first, and how they resolved that with Season 2.

There were plenty of viewers who loved The Witcher Season 1, but still voiced some very vocal concerns about the multiple timelines contained within, and how we were left in the dark on when, exactly, everything was happening. While they did take care of that problem by the finale, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich actually had a very different issue with the first season that has now also been solved for Season 2. As she told The Hollywood Reporter:

Fans who’ve already watched all of the drama and have gotten through The Witcher Season 2 ending will know that it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to several aspects. There are plenty of monsters, some mysteries to solve, Yen trying to find her place after her heroics at the Battle of Sodden Hill, a number of bloody battles, at least one heart-wrenching death, and even some lovely songs from Jaskier. But, we also get lots of good bonding time between Geralt and his Child of Surprise, Ciri, whom he finally met up with in the Season 1 finale. 

Though I don’t happen to agree that we didn’t see Ciri enough in Season 1, as Schmidt Hissrich said, we absolutely get more with the exiled princess this time around. Geralt took her to his childhood Witcher home of Kaer Morhen, where he began training her so that she could do more than run or accidentally open up holes in the ground / eviscerate men the next time she’s threatened. 

And, seeing as how Ciri is now driven by a fierce need for vengeance against Nilfgaard, she was more than eager to pick up a sword and embrace all of the training challenges she could. Luckily, this led to a sequence with Ciri and her portrayer, Freya Allan, that dazzled Lauren Schmidt Hissrich so much that she’s already declared herself to be “in love” with it, so beefing up Ciri’s role in Season 2 really worked out.

You can revisit all of The Witcher right now on Netflix as you await more info on Season 3, but for more to watch soon, be sure to check out the 2022 TV premiere dates! 

The Witcher universe is full of fleshed-out cultures, intricate world-building, and multi-layered characters. This attention to detail is mostly thanks to Andrzej Sapkowski, the writer behind the original novels that inspired the video games and television series. The Netflix show wastes no time delving into the Continent’s backstory, but the upcoming prequel series Blood Origin is set to offer a new perspective on the world of The Witcher. 

After the release of The Witcher Season 2, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich sat down with Digital Spy to chat about the new prequel series Blood Origin. Set 1,200 years before the events of The Witcher (although which events remain to be seen, considering the show's multiple timelines), the six-part miniseries will portray the creation of the first-ever Witcher, the so-called Conjunction of the Spheres, and the fallen elven civilization. While the Continent may seem medieval to modern viewers, the sensibilities of Blood Origin will be decidedly more enlightened. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich explained: 

Depending on how the material is handled, reinterpretations of established lore can either excite or infuriate a fanbase. So far, viewers seem to resonate with Netflix’s version of Andrzej Sapkowski’s story. But with the production team going in such a different direction for Blood Origin, will fans of The Witcher still enjoy the prequel? Lauren Schmidt Hissrich seems to think so. She said: 

More elves, swords, and toe-tapping minstrel tunes? I’ll toss a coin to that. Season 2 of The Witcher is now available to stream on Netflix. Blood Origin has no set release date, but is expected to land on the streaming service sometime in 2022. We’ll be sure to keep you updated here on CinemaBlend. 

By now, fans of The Witcher know that Season 2 offers viewers a lot of cool stuff. We’ve got plenty of new characters, some even scarier monsters, Geralt / Ciri bonding time, and brand new songs from our favorite bard, for starters. But, there are some big moments in the new episodes for Ciri, and now The Witcher’s showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, has revealed which of those scenes she’s “in love” with.

Young Cirilla did a very good job in Season 1 of The Witcher when it came to running, hiding, and generally evading Cahir and the other Nilfgaardian forces who were on the lookout for her after Cintra was sacked. But, a lot of that had to do with both her powers (which surprised her every time they showed up) and her getting a lot of help from Dara and other kind people along the way. Now that she’s with Geralt, he’s helping her become an active participant in keeping herself safe, and teaching her to fight instead of just run. And, it turns out that showrunner Lauren Schimdt Hissrich is a big fan of those training scenes. She told TV Insider:

And fight Ciri does. Geralt doesn’t waste much time when it comes to delivering his new charge with a training sword of her very own, and begins to teach her how to handle it within a few days of their arrival at Kaer Morhen. Ciri is driven by her desire to get revenge on Nilfgaard (Cahir especially), so by the next time we see her, she’s been in full training mode for a while and taken to the challenging tasks maybe a bit too well. 

But, it’s not until Geralt briefly leaves with Vesemir that fellow Witchers Lambert and Coën, who have their doubts about Geralt's attempts to train an exiled princess) introduce Ciri to an obstacle course that’s capable of delivering more than a few bumps and bruises. Luckily, Ciri eagerly rises to the occasion. And, as Schmidt Hissrich noted, Ciri’s portrayer, Freya Allan, does go through the long sequence and kick ass by doing a lot of her own stunt work.

While the scene is impressive, and it does show how gloriously bloody-minded and determined Ciri has had to become in a short time, that doesn’t mean that putting that sequence together didn’t give the cast and crew some of their own challenges to overcome. Schmidt Hissrich continued:

It’s wild that there are more visual effects in that one shot than in some of the ones with actual monsters in them, but the good news is that it works seamlessly to help us see that Ciri won’t be easily broken by the rough road ahead. 

When you’re done with The Witcher Season 2 ending, check out the 2022 TV premiere dates while you wait for the death and madness to come in Season 3! 

If you’re like many fans of The Witcher, you spent the previous few days binging the hell out of the new season of the fantasy hit on Netflix. As could be expected, The Witcher Season 2 delivered everything we enjoyed about the first season, while also deepening the world, lore, and characters, with the ending giving us a lot to mull over until we can finally watch Season 3, which was announced back in September. Now, though, you probably want to know how far along they are on the next season, as well as what bit of the source material it might cover, and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has those answers for you. 

The Witcher showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, spoke to TechRadar in the lead up to Season 2 premiering, and it’s a lucky thing that the series was renewed as far back as it was, because she was able to let everyone in on where they are with Season 3, and what they’re basing it on. Schmidt Hissrich said:

Oooohhhhh. You hear that, The Witcher book fans? The Time of Contempt is coming to the small screen! First of all, the really good news is that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and her team have already had plenty of time to take all of the seeds that have been planted with the show so far, dig into that book, and come up with the scripts for Season 3. It sounds like every script for the new episodes is considered done, with them having the action of the upcoming season completely plotted out.

And, this is a very good thing, because plenty of big stuff happens in The Time of Contempt. While the book (which is the fourth book in the series overall, and the second full-length novel) doesn’t pick up in the same, exact, place where we left Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer on the show, it will be pretty easy for them to get the trio to the same circumstances quickly once Season 3 begins. 

This is all very good news for fans of The Witcher, but as you probably expected, this is just the beginning of getting the next season off of the ground. Schmidt Hissrich added:

Don’t you just love that “huge” things are yet to come on The Witcher in Season 3? It might take us a while to get there, but at least Season 2 gave us plenty of time to mull over the developments as they stand, and try and guess at what, exactly, will be coming next.

You can rewatch all of The Witcher on Netflix, but for more to enjoy right now, be sure to check out our Christmas movies and TV schedule!

Fans of the fantasy hit The Witcher are thrilled that the second season of the epic series is finally returning to Netflix in just a few short days. With creator / showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich noting that they’d like to do at least seven seasons, though, we know that viewers shouldn’t harbor any Game of Thrones-ish worries about her extensive plans for the show.

While we’ve been given quite a bit of information about where The Witcher Season 2 will take Yennefer, Geralt, Ciri and their assorted allies and enemies, we’ve also already gotten a tease of death coming in Season 3, so it feels quite natural to look ahead and think of where else the show might go in upcoming seasons. There’s no guarantee right now that the series will run through Season 7, but any fantasy series that has a plan that long will certainly make people think of Game of Thrones, and how some later seasons didn’t quite fulfill the promises made early on for many fans.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich announced her plan to keep the show going into Season 7 back before Season 1 even premiered, and when talking about her ideas for The Witcher’s potentially long run, told IGN:

And, there’s the rub, right? As Game of Thrones fans know all too well, the series was based on the acclaimed novels by George R.R. Martin, but he hadn’t finished his planned series by the time the show began. He also didn’t wrap it up during the show’s run, and still hasn’t (which really annoys a lot of people), so the showrunners ran out of stories to follow by the end of Season 5, when there were three more seasons to go. 

Luckily, Schmidt Hissrich and her team will have an easier path, because the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski is already complete, so she sees no need to completely invent material just to keep The Witcher going for five additional seasons.

Even though the easiest course of action will be for Schmidt Hissrich to continue to follow the main storylines in those books (while peppering new things in here and there to keep fans of the novels on their toes), we all know that there’s now a whole Witcher universe being planned out for Netflix. And, the showrunner also noted that this will be a special boon for those who want more from the world:

So, we can all expect Lauren Schmidt Hissrich to have The Witcher continue down a pretty set path, as the many planned spinoffs are more free to take the stories in brand new directions and explore other corners of the mythology that don’t quite fit within the story of the main series. Honestly, that sounds like a solid idea that can keep The Witcher well out of Game of Thrones territory in the future.

The Witcher returns to Netflix on December 17, so take a look at everything you need to remember before Season 2. For more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our guide to 2022 TV premiere dates! 

We’re finally getting closer to The Witcher Season 2 hitting Netflix, and there will be a lot of changes on the way. The biggest of these is that Geralt finally caught up with Ciri at the very end of the first season, and has taken over as the parental figure for the displaced princess. But, it turns out that series star Henry Cavill also had one big request for Geralt as the show headed into the second season: he wanted to talk more.

Everyone who enjoyed the bloody fantasy action of The Witcher in Season 1 can tell you that Geralt did a lot of things when we were first introduced to him. There was some bathing and general adventuring around with our beloved bard, Jaskier, but chief among his tasks was lots o’ fighting. As you might imagine, this does not usually lead to much speaking. When asked about Season 2, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told The Hollywood Reporter that Henry Cavill had several ideas about what they could do, which included Geralt opening up a bit, and said:

While Geralt certainly had some puzzle pieces to assemble over the course of the first season, which meant him engaging in a few conversations, he still spent most of his time swinging his sword around to dispense of both monsters and men. And, if you were to do the math and report that Cavill’s Geralt had dialogue which was half comprised of nothing but grunts and grumbles, that wouldn’t sound at all inconceivable. 

As we know, though, the actor is a massive fan of the books and video games in The Witcher franchise, and it sounds like he was itching to show off more of Geralt’s personality (and, you know, his ability to form words) as seen in the source material for his second go-round as the former loner.

And, it seems as though that was an easy enough wish for the showrunner and her team to grant, because of Geralt now needing to form a relationship with Ciri. He’ll be training her to fight, trying to help her figure out her powers, and has taken her to Kaer Morhen (where he got his Witcher training) to help with that. As Lauren Schmidt Hissrich noted, he’s going to have to open up to Ciri to get the young woman to fully trust him, plus, he’s going to be joined by other Witchers from his past, which should lead to plenty of intriguing exchanges.

We’ll be able to hear more of Henry Cavill’s gruff Geralt voice when The Witcher Season 2 hits Netflix on December 17. 

Everyone who loved The Witcher after watching Season 1 has been waiting a very long time to get their thirsty eyeballs on the second season. It will be nearly a full two years when the show finally returns to Netflix on December 17, meaning that when the full trailer dropped a few days ago, fans were delighted and eager to pick over all of the details that could be found within. But, even with The Witcher Season 2 over a month away, the showrunner is already teasing “death” for Season 3, and I’m not quite sure what to do with that!

Listen, The Witcher is a big, ol’ fantasy show with gobs o’ fighting. The Henry Cavill-led series also features a number of scary monsters, a massive war, and, therefore, lots of death. So, for showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich to tell us that death is coming in Season 3, is...well, a given. Meaning, this death (or deaths) must be pretty big, right? Shockingly, while appearing at a panel during the Lucca Comics & Games 2021 festival in Italy (via ComicBook), Schmidt Hissrich actually went ahead and gave some info on Season 3, and said:

You guys? WTF is happening?!?! For those of you who don’t know much about how this TV business works, it is very uncommon for a showrunner (or, in fact, anyone involved in the production of a television series) to tease events that are coming in a season which is not the most recent one. It would make all kinds of sense for Schmidt Hissrich to tease death in the second season, because that’s the one that’s finally coming around the bend at us. But, teasing The Witcher Season 3? That seems like a clue that something major is about to go down.

Alright, many of you will now be wondering who will be involved in this (probably pretty major) death. Obviously, with much of The Witcher Season 2 still a mystery, there’s no way to know. As Schmidt Hissrich noted, though, Season 3 (which must be at least a year away from hitting our screens) is already being planned to follow one of The Witcher books “very closely,” which is why this death is so important. Now, I’m going to get into some possible SPOILER territory, so look away if you want no hints at what might be upcoming!

Ready?

Here we go. In Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Lady of the Lake, Geralt heads back to Rivia, but eventually finds himself in the middle of an all out riot between humans and the non-humans they’ve begun randomly killing. During the riot, Geralt is impaled by a pitchfork, leading to his apparent death. I say “apparent” because it’s way more complicated than that, but the trailer for Season 2 hints at exactly that moment. So, who knows?

END BOOK SPOILERS!

OK, I have my doubts that the events of Season 2 will fully lead us to such a big moment in Season 3, but stranger things have happened. Also, it’s possible that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and her team could be taking the basic elements of this death from the book, and then twist things so that even people who've read all of the source material will be surprised. 

Basically, we are going to have to put a Cavill bicep-sized pin in this conversation until we’ve all seen The Witcher Season 2, so that we can better understand where all of this Season 3 death talk may be going. Until then, see what else you can watch now with our guide to the 2021 fall TV schedule!

It’s a struggle as old as time. Or, a struggle as old as movies, anyway. How do we accept a screen adaptation of a novel that we’ve loved, with our feelings for said original property sometimes going back years, or even multiple decades. Fans of The Witcher have had to deal with this at least twice, when the many books / short stories of author Andrzej Sapkowski were turned into a series of video games, and in December 2019, when the first season of Netflix’s hit fantasy show debuted. Now, though, The Witcher’s showrunner is getting very honest about people who like the books better than the shows.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is the person behind The Witcher, who helped shepherd Sapkowski’s expansive and fantastical world to the small screen. With The Witcher Season 2 finally (Finally!) set to premiere in a little over two months, she was recently asked by a fan on Twitter if she had tips on being able to separate the work of a novel and that of its adaptation, so that people who adore that book can still enjoy the TV show as its own thing, even with the inevitable changes. Hissrich fessed up, and said, in part:

Man, it’s tough sometimes, right? But, I think that this question was brought to the showrunner on Twitter because it’s a thing that many readers deal with. When you find a book or novel series that you love with all of your heart, it’s not uncommon to become both extremely excited and fearful when it’s announced that a show (or movie) will be made from it. 

As Hissrich noted, we know that some aspects of the story will have to change so that it fits a screen adaptation better, but we always worry about what will change and how, not to mention the general anxiety over casting, set design, and other things we’ve fully imagined in our heads for years.

The key that Hissrich has found to enjoying both seems to be just accepting that sometimes major changes are a part of the adaptation process so you can “go along for the ride,” as long as you know that no aspect of the story that’s necessary for your immersion in it has been removed / severely altered. Plus, as long as you feel like those who adapted the story respected the original work, even as they made changes, it should help that process along.

As Hissrich added:

Fans will have another chance to separate the books from the TV show when The Witcher returns (with the well-paid Henry Cavill) on December 17. And, you can see what’s coming up with other book-to-show adaptations with news on Outlander Season 6, read up on Netflix’s Sandman TV show, or look into what will be new for The Flight Attendant Season 2.

It’s been a weirdly McDonald’s centric week for some of the folks over at Netflix. We kicked it off by hearing Regé-Jean Page compare Season 1 of Bridgerton to a Happy Meal and now the famous Golden Arches have been evoked again by someone on The Witcher staff ahead of the show's highly-anticipated Season 2. In this case, we recently learned about how one Witcher staff member found out they’d landed the gig.

Matt D’Ambrosio, a script coordinator on Netflix’s The Witcher recently took to social media to share a funny story about when showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich called to reveal D’Ambrosio had landed the gig. (This may seem like a weird choice, but Hissrich herself often encourages this sort of behind-the scenes sharing.) To hear Matt tell it, the timing was awkward but also hilarious, as D’Ambrosio recounted on Twitter:

Fans seemed to get a kick out of the post, with some joking they thought the Quarter Pounder was for the cat at first and others considering ordering at McDonald’s while landing a job to be a real “hero” moment. The Witcher writer also seemed to have a good time with the responses, sharing this oh-so-relevant gif.

I know Matt D’Ambrosio is just hyping up the good work The Witcher team has done on Season 2 -- a show I might add had to be in production for over a year given pandemic protocols -- but it’s really strange how McDonald’s is so ingrained in our culture that two separate Netflix shows could bring it up for two separate reasons around the same time. Meanwhile, Regé-Jean Page is over here telling us that Bridgerton is like a “Happy Meal” but like an organic one for dudes.

I dunno what’s in the water over at Netflix, but I’m sure McDonald’s is loving the free press. It’s working too, because as I’ve typed this I’ve basically had chicken nuggets on the brain for quite some time. Mmm with dipping sauce...

The Witcher Season 2 is rapidly approaching, and this story isn't the only Witcher and Bridgerton connection this year. While Netflix has been mum on a release date thus far, we did already get a first look at the upcoming Season 2 The Witcher episodes. In fact, it was that first look video that led Matt D’Ambrosio to share the Quarter Pounder in the first place. Now that the show finally seems to be gearing up for Season 2 I'd expect there to be more on the way soon and, of course we'll keep you posted every step of the way. Now, please excuse me while I go make a drive-thru run.

The Witcher debuted back in 2019 to become a quick and massive hit for Netflix, and fans could rest easy knowing that Netflix had already renewed the fantasy series for a Season 2 before the first even premiered. Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic that brought much of the entertainment industry to a halt resulted in some significant delays for filming Season 2, with the schedule even resulting in a recast of a character. The good news? Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has a message for fans that could mean Season 2 footage coming soon.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who helped reveal the wrap of production back in early April after 15 locations, 89 cast members, and 1200 crew members, took to Twitter to drop an interesting detail about the current status of production on The Witcher Season 2:

It's hard not to get excited about the showrunner's tweet, and not just because of the apparent Hamilton reference with the "rooms where it happens" mention! Lauren Schmidt Hissrich being "deep into post-production" presumably means the show is closer than ever to having more substantial completed footage than brief moments of new monsters. And if the showrunner is "so fucking excited," then I think fans can start getting hyped about what's in store!

And I think it's fair for fans to start speculating about what this means for both a trailer and the second season. A show's full season doesn't have to have been fully completed for a trailer to release – non-Netflix shows that still release episodes on a weekly basis do it all the time, and few series would want to give away everything that happens toward the end of a season anyway. And if a trailer could be ready in the coming weeks or months, then we can look at the timeline for Season 1's releases.

The first teaser for The Witcher Season 1 was released in late July 2019, about five months before the show actually premiered in December. If a teaser or trailer is on the way sooner rather than later, then Season 2 could release far earlier in the year than Season 1 was. That said, that July teaser release was timed to the Witcher panel at San Diego Comic-Con, so my fingers are crossed that we're not waiting until the next virtual SDCC for footage.

Either way, the facts that The Witcher filming has been completed (with star Henry Cavill capping off the experience with a gorgeous wrap gift) and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is deep into post-production bodes well for fans being closer than ever to getting a good look at what's on the way. Some details have been revealed, including that Season 2 won't play around with the timeline the same way that Season 1 did.

For now, you can find the first season of The Witcher streaming on Netflix, along with plenty of other options. The Witcher isn't the only high-profile Netflix show to be delayed due to pandemic shutdowns, but if Stranger Things could recently release some footage, why not The Witcher?

Oh boy, is it ever time to celebrate for fans of The Witcher! Season 1 of the fantasy hit debuted on Netflix in December 2019, and we all thought that we'd be able to see Season 2 in about a year, but life had other plans. Now, we're well over a year past when we should have been able to binge the next adventures of Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer. But, after an incredible number of days in production, and some serious delays, The Witcher Season 2 has finally wrapped filming!

The Henry Cavill-starring series made a big splash when it premiered, and while some aspects of The Witcher Season 1 were confusing for viewers, the overall response was terrific. This means that fans have been hanging on to every possible update and rumor as we waited for Season 2, and now that production has finished, we should finally be able to find out even more about what the new season will bring. First, let's celebrate with this announcement from showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, which details some of what the cast and crew went through to film for over a year. Take a look!

Just like Geralt, the cast and crew of The Witcher stays the course and gets the job done no matter what, y'all! I don't know about you, but I'm tossing all my coins to everyone right now, not just our favorite Witcher.

As you might recall, and as Schmidt Hissrich points out in the above video, The Witcher began filming Season 2 in early 2020, and the obvious plan was for us to be able to pick up with the tale of Witcher Geralt, sorceress Yennefer, and exiled princess Ciri as they travel the Continent and fight monsters, human or otherwise, by the end of that year. But, like every other production, they had to shut down for several months. Even though that allowed for a bit of extra time to cast a number of awesome new characters for Season 2, it was still difficult for everyone involved to have things on hold.

It's clear from the video that Henry Cavill, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, and all of the other cast and crew members are thrilled to have finally been able to finish production. As she said in the video, they went through a lot to try and make sure The Witcher Season 2 wouldn't see any more extended delays. All productions had to film under stricter safety protocols once they began again, and this series was no different, but they also sometimes had three separate units filming at once, meaning that even more could be filmed in a shorter amount of time.

They also had a massive crew of over 1,200 people to help pull things together for 89 cast members, some of whom we'll be seeing for the first time in Season 2, as the story and on-screen world of The Witcher expands. Part of the reason fans are so eager to see what will happen next, is that the end of the first season finally saw the three timelines converge as Yenn fought at the Battle of Sodden Hill, and Geralt and Ciri were able to find one another after attempting to do so for much of he season.

Now, we can look forward to watching how Geralt handles caring for and training his gifted Child of Surprise, and how he and Yenn come together again after her time on the battlefield.

The Witcher Season 2 is expected to debut on the streamer at some point this year, but until we have a set premiere date, you can refresh your memories of the first season by looking over a full explanation of the timeline, take a gander at all the upcoming Witcher shows, movies, and more, and see what's coming to Netflix in April!

Those behind the Netflix hit fantasy series, The Witcher, have been through a lot in their efforts to try and bring us Season 2, and basically through no fault of their own. But, even with multiple production shutdowns (either because of injury, or, you know, the world), the cast and crew have still managed to make progress in the past several months. We've heard lots of rumors about potential castings, but a recent announcement of official new players joining the show for the new season has The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich reacting to all of those castings like the rest of us fans.

While some of the rumored castings we've been hearing for months were recently shown to be correct, we also got announcements for new actors in roles many of us weren't expecting. This means that a lot of exciting, new things will be coming to The Witcher Season 2, and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich seems just as pumped as the show's many fans. She took to Twitter after the seven castings were made official, and noted:

OK, I realize that this might not be the most excited someone can get on social media, but let's give the woman a break. She's still got a lot of work to do!

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich might not have loaded up her tweet with exclamation points, fire emojis or exploding head emojis, but there's still no doubt that this is great news. After a relatively contained Season 1, which focused mostly on setting up the world and the lives of Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer, Schmidt Hissrich and her team can now open things up and bring in even more characters from the books and video games as a way to explore this complex fantasy universe more thoroughly.

The series has now officially added Outlander, Lucifer, and Preacher vet Graham McTavish as Redanian Intelligence leader / master spy Sigismund Dijkstra, so we can be sure that his character is likely to be an important player in events of the new season, even if we don't see him in every episode. We can also look forward to Bridgerton actors Adjoa Andoh as priestess Nenneke, and Chris Fulton as a mage, Rience, who'll be tasked with tracking down Ciri.

Cassie Clare (Brave New World) is taking on the role of King Vizimir II's advisor and sorceress Philippa Eilhart, while Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) is portraying new character, Ba’lian. And, (Yes! There are more!) Liz Carr from Devs and Simon Callow (Outlander) will play lawyers / detectives Fenn and Codringher, respectively.

So far, we know that Season 2 of The Witcher is set to abandon the, often confusing, multiple timelines of the first season, now that Geralt and Ciri have finally found each other. While this doesn't guarantee that we'll never see anything that happened in the past, it will at least be clear that that's what we're watching. Also, with conflict still tearing the Continent apart, and Ciri dealing with powers that she doesn't understand and can't control, Geralt will be taking her to his childhood Witcher training site / home of Kaer Morhen to teach the exiled princess how to fight. And, we can count on the show getting off to a bloody bang of a start.

We still, likely, have a while to wait for The Witcher Season 2 to hit Netflix, but if all this cool new casting info being confirmed doesn't help keep you excited and intrigued for the events of the upcoming set of episodes, well, no one's going to be tossing you any coins any time soon.

Until we hear about a release date for Season 2 of The Witcher, take a look at all the new Witcher shows, movies and everything else coming up soon, be sure to check out our guide to early 2021 TV premieres and see what's coming to Netflix in April!

If you've watched The Witcher Season 1 (and I certainly hope you've indulged by now), you'll know that Ciri and Yennefer aren't just two of the main characters, but very powerful ones as well. While viewers spent most of the first season trying to figure out when and where the two would finally meet, Season 2 is primed to finally give us some good moments between the displaced princess and her latest soon-to-be surrogate mother. So, it's totally fitting that The Witcher's showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, posted a tribute for International Women's Day that makes a nod to Yenn and Ciri.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich made sure that she and her writers set up Season 1 of The Witcher so that viewers would know, from very early on, that it wasn't just the story of Geralt grunting and monster-killing his way across the Continent, but also the story of these two women, who would eventually become very important to him. So, when the showrunner took to Twitter yesterday to post a tribute for International Women's Day, she made sure that we all knew how important the characters (and probably the actresses who play them, as well) are to her, saying:

Awww! It's sweet, right? Obviously, Schmidt Hissrich made sure to mention some close, personal friends and family in her post, but she also gave a nice shoutout to "the women of The Witcher," which I like to think means that this message was at least a bit for Ciri and Yenn, as well as Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra (who play the characters, respectively), and all of the other women working hard behind the scenes to help The Witcher come to life.

Season 1 of the fantasy series made a lot of waves among audiences, not just for all the great action and creative monsters, but also for the densely-packed story which many found a bit hard to pick apart. Schmidt Hissrich chose to tell the tale by using three separate timelines, one each for Ciri, Yenn, and Geralt, which sometimes overlapped, but didn't always play out from beginning to end the way we normally expect them to. While this helped to highlight just how important Ciri and Yenn's origins were to the overall plot, it did serve to confuse a number of us quite a bit.

Luckily, we've been promised that that time has come to a close, as we're firmly in the present now that Geralt has finally taken responsibility for his Child of Surprise and met up with Ciri. We've also gotten a pretty full breakdown of what led Ciri and Yenn to where the show left them by the end of The Witcher Season 1, so all roads now point to following the trio in the present timeline.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich noting that she sees all women who "inspire" and "light a fire" under her as part of her "coven," makes total sense when it comes to The Witcher, as well. Yenn went through hell to become a user of magic and learn to wield Chaos to the benefit of herself and others. While Ciri isn't technically a magic user, she does have some rather mysterious powers which she'll definitely need to learn more about in the coming season. Basically, both women are powerful as hell, and I can totally see where self-proclaimed "professional witch" Schmidt Hissrich would have mad respect for that.

We don't know just yet when The Witcher Season 2 will hit Netflix, but it is expected to drop at some point in 2021.

It’s hard to believe it, but like a lot of things during the long past 12 months, TV and movie productions have slowed down considerably due to new safety measures. Even the highly popular Netflix series The Witcher has seen its fair share of issues, having to shut down more than once due to Covid-19. Now, the Henry Cavill-led series is heading into its second year of production on Season 2, but showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich has shared nothing but gratitude in a sweet new post.

The showrunner on the Netflix series is often sharing non-spoilery moments from set. Earlier this year, she gave fans a look at some of the safety protocols the show has been employing. She’s additionally shared many an amusing post about hopping away from others on set to cram candy down her throat or revealing memories from the series. Now, as the show heads into its second year filming Season 2, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich took a moment to reflect.

I’m not sure which is more beautiful, that photo from filming or the showrunner’s own sentiment about the work. Still, behind the nice post is a team that’s been slogging its way through to get Season 2 in front of the fans’ eyeballs on Netflix sooner rather than later. As the work keeps going and going and going, the team has even taken to working on Saturdays, as Lauren S. Hissrich noted in a separate Twitter post.

It’s worth mentioning that while most shows pick up and leave off around the same time year after year, that has not always been true of subscription cable or streaming shows. With the big productions in particular -- think Outlander, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, etc -- the actual shoots can take much longer. Outlander even has a word for the long gaps between seasons: Droughtlander.

Therefore, as a massive production, The Witcher Season 2 was always going to take quite a while to shoot. In fact, when the show originally came out in December of 2019, Lauren S. Hissrich was quoted as saying we wouldn’t be getting Season 2 until sometimes in 2021 and that could possibly still happen later in the year. But The Witcher Season 2 has also been dealt a fairly raw hand with filming this second time around.

In fact, it was one of the shows to notably be shut down for months when Covid-19 hit last year. (Henry Cavill seemed OK with the development, however, building computers and such.) Then, the series was shut down a second time after it restarted due to Covid-19. Shooting locations have also had to be shifted and Henry Cavill also had to rehab a set injury. So, I think people would be pretty understanding if Lauren S. Hissrich were a bit tetchy at this point. The fact she’s so grateful to still be working on the series is pretty incredible. (Though as far as jobs go, perhaps I probably wouldn’t be complaining either.)

We do know a little bit about what's coming, as Season 2 apparently gets off to a "bloody start" and now that the Band-Aid has been ripped off and Season 2 is on Year 2, hopefully the shoot will continue to go more and more quickly. I still have some hopes for a 2021 premiere, but we'll have to wait and see. After filming, there's still a whole lot of post work that will need to be done. For now, check out what is heading to Netflix with our full schedule.

It’s hard to believe that Season 1 of The Witcher premiered nearly a year ago. Despite the confusing timeline of events, the Netflix series scored both a strong fanbase and a Season 2 renewal. While Henry Cavill was obviously one of the major draws of The Witcher, Anya Chalotra and her character Yennefer of Vengerberg pretty much stole the show. Chalotra recently received some well-deserved praise and series showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich shared a rather embarrassing audition story while reaffirming the actress’ star power.

Anya Chalotra’s star is rising. After starring in the British series Wanderlust and lending her voice to Sherwood’s Robin Loxley, Chalotra booked the role of The Witcher’s Yennefer, a powerful sorceress. The actress recently won IMDb’s Breakout STARmeter Award for her performance in the Netflix show. In celebration of the win, Lauren S. Hissrich shared a fun, if somewhat mortifying, story about Chalotra’s audition on Twitter. Here’s what she wrote:

It sounds like Anya Chalotra really knows how to make a first impression on someone. Did The Witcher actress bring the apple in with her to the audition? Had she finished eating it beforehand and the “chewed up bits” just ended up on the floor while she was saying her lines? It’s hard to say what the context is in this particular instance, but it seems clear that Lauren S. Hissrich thinks rather fondly of Chalotra’s audition. I'm all ears if the showrunner were to ever share the full story!

In another tweet, The Witcher’s showrunner congratulated both Anya Chalotra and Henry Cavill for making IMDb’s list of Top Stars of 2020. She also thanked casting director Sophie Holland and her team for bringing everyone together for the Netflix show. Chalotra's embarrassing audition story aside, the pair have brought to life beloved characters from Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels and they’re getting credit where credit is due, in my opinion.

The cast and crew of The Witcher initially began filming Season 2 in February, but the rising danger of COVID-19 halted production on the series. However, after being delayed for several months, filming on the second season resumed in August. Anya Chalotra, Henry Cavill, and Freya Allan will be joined by quite a few new cast members. The one I'm most excited for is Killing Eve's Kim Bodnia, who will play an ancient witcher named Vesemir.

That said, The Witcher Season 2 does not yet have a scheduled premiere date, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates. Season 1 of the show is currently streaming on Netflix. In the meantime, be sure to check out our 2021 winter and spring TV schedule for more on what to watch.

There are many things which one could pick at when it comes to the Netflix hit The Witcher. Maybe you tired of all of Geralt's grunting. Or, you (like a lot of viewers) despised the multiple timelines and didn't even know you were watching more than one timeline for quite a while. You might have wanted to see even more of our hero washing the day's monster killing off of his (not so) weary form. But, there's one bizarre plot from Season 1 of the fantasy drama that the showrunner now admits was added to make the show different from Harry Potter: those poor eels!

If you're asking yourself, 'What eels?' then you weren't nearly as traumatized as I was by the sight of them in The Witcher, nor as confused as most fans of the books and games were when they saw them. The reveal of how those eels come to power the magic school where Yenn was trained isn't present in the source material, and when The Witcher's showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, spoke with TV Guide about some wild fan theories for the series, she admitted they added that plot to differentiate the school at Aretuza from Hogwarts. Schmidt Hissrich said:

Ah, that's right! Now you remember the eels, don't you? Yenn does not have an easy go of it during her training at Aretuza, which makes total sense, seeing as how the scared girl was sold to her soon-to-be magical teacher, Tissaia, by her hateful stepfather. Plus, the training at Aretuza is no joke, and if any of the girls who train there screw themselves up trying to perfect their skills, well, too bad so sad.

As any professor would, Tissaia works with the young women to see who's the most capable of harnessing chaos and using magic, and she promises that those who are good at it will "ascend." But, we soon see that this is a lie, because when Yenn spies on her one night she sees Tissaia turn some of Yenn's fellow students into eels. When Tissaia realizes that Yenn is snooping, she makes the girl push her former classmates into the water, which lets their power fuel Aretuza.

Shocking and disturbing though the revelation was to both Yennefer and the audience, the bizarre plot twist absolutely helped to set Aretuza apart from the Hogwarts of Harry Potter fame. While the latter magical academy is hardly an easy place to live and learn your craft, at least none of the teachers were actively lying to the kids so that they could trick them into a transformation which would alter their lives forever; a transformation which pretty much no one would agree to on any level.

So, the girls who train at Aretuza are allowed to grow as much as they can, become friends who rely on each other, and then, those who aren't powerful enough to become full-blown sorceresses get turned into eel-based power sources. Brutal, but intriguing nonetheless.

Season 2 of The Witcher is filming right now, so hopefully it won't be too much longer before we have word on a premiere date. In the meantime, be sure to check out what else you can watch on the small screen with our guide to fall TV!

Ever since The Witcher had its incredibly successful debut on Netflix, there's been one fan theory after another. But believe it or not, there is one fan theory that the series’ showrunner, Lauren Hissrich, actually likes. For context, do you remember when Cahir fought a doppler, who disguised itself as Ciri, back in Episode 6? Well, there's an intriguing theory going around about the fight and its outcome.

The fan theory asserts that Cahir actually lost the fight to doppler, who went on to assume Cahir’s identity, meaning the real Cahir is not who ran away. The Witcher’s showrunner weighed in on the fan theory with a glowing review. But could this fan theory just based on a production mistake like the one about Jaskier never aging, and therefore being of the magical realm? Here's what Lauren Hissrich told TV Guide:

So the doppler didn't replace Cahir after all? It's honestly tough to tell which conclusion to take from Lauren Hissrich’s answer regarding this particular Witcher fan theory. Does she know if it's true or not, as is the case with the writers knowing Geralt’s third wish? Given that Hissrich doesn't explicitly shoot it down, it's hard to say whether or not it's time for fans to head back to the drawing board.

Hissrich does, however, indicate that she wants to leave the possibility open for a while longer. Fair enough. The Witcher’s showrunner (who is planning massive changes for Season 2) adds that production could have cleared up the mystery. She revealed that the team originally planned on adding a scratch to one of the characters' faces to confirm who ended up running away.

So it seems The Witcher may have wanted to leave an air of mystery for this particular scene. Fans of the Netflix series will just have to wait and see if anything becomes of the moment, or if it's just dropped as a plot thread altogether. Cahir not being Cahir would be a pretty seismic twist, though, and would definitely be something interesting to explore in Season 2 or beyond.

In case you somehow missed it, The Witcher is back filming Season 2 and taking every COVID-19 precaution imaginable as it proceeds with production. Until next season arrives, you can stream The Witcher Season 1 on Netflix along with a ton of new 2020 content. Season 2 should premiere well after this fall’s premieres. Hopefully, that date will arrive sometime in 2021.

Even though The Witcher was a pretty big hit for Netflix in Season 1, to the point where there are already major plans for a live action prequel and an anime spinoff film, the first season was not without its controversies. Viewers complained about there being too much grunting, said star Henry Cavill was too good looking to play Geralt, and took issue with other aspects, but the one thing that united audiences in dislike the most was the multiple timelines. Now, the showrunner has confirmed that one timeline-related fan theory is actually just the result of a production mistake.

As you may have guessed by looking at the photo which tops this article, while fan theories about The Witcher already abound, this particular one has to do with Jaskier (Joey Batey). Our tuneful friend managed to cross paths with Geralt several times during the course of the eight-episode first season, but because of the multiple timelines involved in the story, some of those interactions happened several years after the ones where the bard and the Witcher were first getting to know one another. But, as we see, Jaskier hasn't appeared to age much (or at all) during the intervening years.

This has led many fans to speculate that, just like Geralt and Yenn, Jaskier is actually not quite human, and is truly magical in some way. The fantasy series is, of course, filled to the sword-bearing brim with all sorts of magical beings, including those two lead characters. However, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has now confirmed that this whole fan theory is really based on what was, essentially, a production mistake. Here's what she told TV Guide when presented with the theory:

According to the official Witcher timeline released by Netflix, which was then further filled in by Forbes, a total of 53 years pass during the entirety of Season 1, and it's thought that about 10 years pass between when Jaskier and Geralt have their first adventures in Episode 2 and when all the Law of Surprise shenanigans take place in Episode 4. By the time we see Jaskier for the last time in Episode 6, I'm guessing that he and Geralt have been running into each other here and there for up to 20 years.

Everything we see happening to young Ciri takes place in 1263, so if hers is the main timeline of Season 2 (which it probably will be, since Schmidt Hissrich has promised that the timey wimey-ness of The Witcher will be much more straight forward from now on), Jaskier should be 24 or more years older than when we first saw him. Phew!

Technically, the first season alone should have seen Jaskier age to at least his mid-30s (depending on how old he's supposed to be when we first see him, of course), so it makes total sense that a lot of fans simply figured he was some kind of magical bard man who either doesn't age, can hide his age like Yenn, or simply ages very slowly à la Geralt. But, it turns out that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and her team had too many other details to keep track of when plotting the timeline shifts of Season 1, and regular ol' musically-inclined human Jaskier and his descent into middle age just fell by the wayside.

Well, that clears that up! Now, if Lauren Schmidt Hissrich can just confirm that they've found a way to bring back Queen Calanthe and Renfri without too much timeline trouble, that would be even better!

Season 2 of The Witcher will be back on Netflix at some point in the near-ish future, so be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest. In the meantime, you can see what else is available to watch in the coming weeks with our fall schedule.

Like so many other productions which had to be shut down unceremoniously in March, The Witcher has had a bit of a rough go this year. What we were all at first hoping would only be few months of being locked inside our homes and unable to resume walking about the world as normal quickly turned into months of quarantine as we figured out best practices when getting back to work. Now, though, it's time to praise whatever gods they worship on the Continent, because The Witcher is finally filming Season 2 again!

The Witcher was only a couple of weeks into production on Season 2 when everything came to a screeching halt. And, while the show's casting director has been able to make good use of the extra time (not to mention star Henry Cavill's judicious use of the break in filming to paint figurines, prepare assorted foodstuffs and send the internet into a tizzy by building his own computer) we do know that they're finally back at work thanks to an Instagram post from director Stephen Surjik. He gave fans a look at some of the behind the scenes safety precautions, and announced that the fantasy hit was up and running once more:

Ooooh, while we don't specifically know what they were about to shoot from looking at this photo of some, apparently, new equipment on the set of The Witcher, at least they have gotten underway. According to Stephen Surjik, even though everyone in the production now has to be super careful to abide by all of the recently implemented safety protocols, the whole team seems to be feeling good about being able to get back to work after the long break.

Surjik made sure to say special thanks to several members of the cast and crew, including actor Kristofer Hivju, who'll be taking on the new role of the beastly Nivellen for the series. As you may remember, it was shortly after production on The Witcher shut down earlier this year that Hivju came out and revealed that he had, in fact, been diagnosed with COVID-19. The small stroke of luck was that most of the cast and crew had already been sent home, so all the show had to do was close production offices, so that the entirety of the filming area at Arborfield Studios, where the series shoots, could be properly disinfected.

As Surjik noted, this monitor is helping the crew keep in touch and abreast of all the goings on with filming so that they don't have to come into close contact with one another, but this isn't the first time we've gotten a look at what the drama is doing to keep everyone as safe as possible. It was just last week that both Surjik and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich posted behind the scenes shots from the set, which showed that The Witcher was getting back to it, and that they were wearing masks, face shields and sitting very far apart with clear barriers in between them while watching monitors.

While it was originally thought that filming wouldn't be able to start up again August 17, it appears that the team behind The Witcher were quick on their feet in being able to reassemble and put new safety features in place so that things could get going a bit ahead of schedule. And, that's good news for fans as well as everyone involved.

Obviously, we don't have a confirmed premiere date for Season 2 of The Witcher just yet, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest. If you're looking to something new to watch in the coming weeks, be sure to check out our guide to fall TV!

We’re living in a weird time where rules, guidelines and suggestions are changing on the regular. Amidst this, show and movie productions are trying to figure out how to safely get back to work which means sometimes a whole binder worth of changes. Now, The Witcher showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich has highlighted some of the safety precautions on set as the Netflix show works its way back into production for Season 2.

The Witcher was one of the first shows to shutdown back in March as Covid-19 first reared its ugly head. Then, in June, a return date in August was announced, with filming set to commence on August 17. While that filming date hasn’t come up yet at the time of this writing, Lauren S. Hissrich and some of the crew already back to work, but with some major precautions such as PPE’s as she shared on Twitter.

Lauren S. Hissrich shared how she took a phone call from her kid from the set of The Witcher Season 2. You can see production gearing up in the background. There are masks, there are shields, and there are people generally spaced apart. This wasn’t the only behind-the-scenes look the showrunner shared either.

On the first day back to work, she also commented on The Witcher director Stephen D. Surjik's post about how social distancing is working on the Season 2 set following the mid-filming shutdown.

So, clearly the crew are already back to work and it’s likely we’ll be seeing and hearing more from the cast soon. Meanwhile, it’s interesting to see how some of the precautions that have been talked about are working in practice and I’m sure that’s something that will become more and more apparent as others shows get back to work as well. Given some shows are doing what would formerly have seemed like wild things like using blow-up dolls for sex scenes, I’m really interested in hearing more and more about how filming is working in practicality.

The Witcher, in particular, was touched more closely by the coronavirus earlier this year than most TV sets. That’s because Game of Thrones and The Witcher newcomer Kristofer Hivju actually tested postive for Covid-19 shortly after the series had already opted to shut down. Eventually, a deep cleaning was conducted at Arborfield Studios where the show shoots to make sure no one else there came into contact with the virus.

The show and parent company Netflix look as if they have been taking this whole thing seriously and hopefully that will mean things are ready and rearing to go as work resumes in its full capacity. The Witcher Season 2 is one of the most hotly anticipated projects for the subscription streaming right now and people have been champing at the bit for new episodes.

The Witcher already wasn’t expected to come back until 2021 and it’s really hard to know how much the delay will affect the show’s final premiere date, but Henry Cavill will have another project coming to Netflix in between seasons. So there’s that at least.

The Witcher offered fans a lot to love about Season 1 when the Netflix mega hit dropped last December. But, among all of the awesome monster-fighting, action-packed sword play, sexy naked times, fun bard-singing and fan-approved Geralt-bathing, one thing we didn't get was to see the de facto family of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri adventuring around together. The fantastical drama spent most of its eight episodes with the main trio traversing the Continent without even knowing one another, but the showrunner has given us a hint of what we'll see now that Geralt and Ciri have finally been "forced together."

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, showrunner for The Witcher, has had a long while to puzzle over what Season 2 would bring fans, and it sounds like she's quite pumped about everyone getting to watch Geralt and Ciri as they become a family. Schmidt Hissrich spoke to The Wrap recently about their new dynamic, and had this to say:

Geralt, of course, was granted wardship over Ciri when he invoked the Law of Surprise after saving her father's life. When war destroys Ciri's kingdom and leads to her grandmother dying from injuries sustained in battle, the young girl sets off to find Geralt on her late grandmother's wishes, but the journey to find him isn't as quick or easy she probably hoped. Ciri is forced to grow up and deal with a lot of danger and turmoil in a short amount of time, so when she finally (accidentally) comes upon Geralt, she's already a very different person than she had been.

By this time, though, Geralt has already spent several decades Witchering around and killing monsters for money, when he realizes that he's going to have to take his duty to Ciri seriously, especially once he sees what's happened to her home and those who had been caring for her in his absence. He certainly hadn't been looking for a surrogate daughter, but by the time they finally meet, he's ready to accept the challenge.

As Lauren Schmidt Hissrich noted, Geralt and Ciri have been living very different lives, and while they had been looking for each other, this doesn't mean that working together and dealing with everything the Continent will throw at them will be smooth sailing, especially at the start. But, if Schmidt Hissrich is correct, it sounds like watching how they relate to each other will be a treat for fans:

I can't wait! The Witcher had to delay filming on Season 2 just like tons of other shows, obviously, but hopefully, they will be able to get back into production on August 17, as is the current plan. For more on what to watch right now, check out our 2020 Netflix guide, and see what's coming to TV this summer!

There were lots of things that fans loved about The Witcher when it debuted on Netflix late last December. Audiences were taken by the portrayals of beloved characters Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri, and they enjoyed watching the world of author Andrzej Sapkowski become realized in a whole new way. But, while many viewers liked watching all the monster-fighting, magic-based action, bard-singing, character growth and Geralt-bathing, they were not so hot on the three separate timelines which filled the show until nearly the end of Season 1. Never fear, though, because showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich knows how to fix that for the new season.

One of the things that baffled many viewers as they got into Season 1 of The Witcher was the eventual realization that the stories we were seeing for Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri, which were separate for much of the season, were not usually happening during the same time period. Because Geralt and Yen are magical characters, they age at a slower rate than regular humans, so there was no actual evidence of their stories taking place in times very different to Ciri's until well into the season. And, as Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told The Wrap, she knows that was a problem for a lot of fans:

It might sound like a bad idea to you for Schmidt Hissrich to both admit that some fans didn't like the multiple storylines but still say that she stands behind it, but I happen to admire her for making the decision to unfold their histories that way and sticking by it. As she explained in her interview, she needed everyone to get to know the characters on their own before bringing them together, and she felt the best way to do that was to allow the tale to hop around in time so we could experience the breadth of Yen and Geralt's histories without worrying about how they related to each other.

Of course, one of the big issues for many of those watching The Witcher was that the multiple timelines (with Ciri's being the most "present day") were basically hidden from audiences. While magic-using characters like Geralt and Yen don't show their advanced years for obvious reason, by the time many fans realized that their lives are unfolding in different eras to each other and Ciri, many of us also realized that the non-magical humans of the series don't show their ages any more than the magic characters do, which only added to the confusion.

Luckily, as everyone who finished Season 1 will know (I really hope you've finished the first season by now.), the finale saw all three timelines converge, with present day Geralt finally meeting a fleeing present day Ciri. And, as Lauren Schmidt Hissrich points out, that's the key to making Season 2 a lot easier for fans to follow:

Well, all of that sounded easy peasy until we got to the end, didn't it? Considering that I enjoyed most of The Witcher the first time around, though, I'm down with Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and her team continuing to give us "some fun challenges with time." At least we know what to expect, and that we can see whatever those challenges are with Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer as a team following the same path.

Season 1 of The Witcher is available for a re-binge on Netflix right now, and Season 2 will, hopefully, be able to start back up before much longer. Until we get word on an official debut for the second season, be sure to check out what's new to Netflix this year and see what's coming to summer TV.

The Witcher was launched into the spotlight, sparking conversation, theories, and even more Geralt in a bathtub memes. As is the case with any TV show, though, The Witcher’s first season wasn’t perfect — what with all the confusing timelines and such — and a sophomore season presents the perfect opportunity to improve on what didn’t work in Season 1. Naturally, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is already planning some big changes for Season 2.

While it was a huge hit with fans, there were many critics who weren’t very kind in their reviews, though the showrunner had a response to the negative reactions. Still, The Witcher Season 1 proved incredibly popular. But even Lauren Schmidt Hissrich wants to tweak some things to help make the series even better, so don’t expect the series to be the same when it does return. Here’s what she said on The Writer Experience podcast about the changes in store for Season 2:

It sounds like The Witcher will have a bit of a clean slate in Season 2 and the changes seem like an opportunity to make an even better show, to build upon the story being told while ironing out the kinks from the first season. Personally, I’m not opposed to the alterations, as any and all changes become a big part of a series’ evolution. One can only hope that the changes will make The Witcher all the more exciting in Season 2. Totally different Nilfgaard armor? Bring it on!

While Henry Cavill gave a production update about The Witcher Season 2 in January, the Netflix series won’t return to the streaming service for a while. While fans wait for more on Season 2, Netflix has heard the call for more Witcher content and is planning an anime film called The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.

The anime will be set in the same universe as The Witcher TV series, though it doesn’t have a release date scheduled yet. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates. In the meantime, you can watch The Witcher Season 1 on Netflix. For more on what to watch, be sure to check out our 2020 midseason schedule for all premiere dates and times.

As anyone who's watched Netflix's adaptation of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher will know, that story has a lot going on. Along with it shifting back and forth through different timelines and points of view for each of the three main characters, there's a lot of lore, world-building, monsters and species to keep track of, and one kick ass sorta theme song to hum to yourself as you watch. But, even though humans are the main focus of the series, something that doesn't come up at all is race. Now, we know why.

The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich recently did an Ask Me Anything on reddit and was questioned about how the show handles, or rather, doesn't handle, race among humans. When asked why the show can be found "randomly throwing around [people of color] here and there with no origins or background," here's what she had to say:

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich gave quite the thorough answer to the person who posed the question about race, and it makes a lot of sense. The biggest points she makes basically come from the source material, and conversations that she and her writers had with Andrzej Sapkowski himself. In his novels and short stories, apparently, race actually isn't an issue. What's much more important there is the species of characters, because that's where many of the overarching conflicts lie.

Hissrich also noted that, if you're out and about and there are giant spiders rampaging about, or you're confronted by something with scary-big teeth or see someone with extra big and pointy ears, are you really going to care about whether or not the person next to you is Black or Asian or what-have-you? Are you going to be trying to figure out the race of the being coming toward you, or are you just going to decide whether or not you need to get out of the way?

Another point that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich makes is actually a way simpler method of explaining why several different races would be on The Continent. This may be a totally made up world, but, just like in real life, people move. And, sometimes, they move from an area populated mostly with their same race to one that has far fewer people who look like them. So, they might stand out more than they did in their previous environment, but that doesn't mean they don't belong where we see them. We don't need complicated reasons that explain why humans of different races live in the same area, work together or fraternize.

In addition, Hissrich explained that there's a good reason Sapkowski didn't really talk about race in his books:

This, also, makes a lot of sense. Andrzej Sapkowski wasn't writing with an eye toward making sure there were different races present in his books, but he also figured his readers would do what lots of readers do, and just mentally make the characters look like themselves to further become immersed in the world he created. As Hissrich said, this is also why Sapkowski focused so much on species in his stories. If a reader's instinct is to imagine the characters as people who look like them, then race is more of a moot point.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich didn't stop there, either. She went on to explain that as writers and producers, when they were developing the series, they had a different goal in mind than Sapkowski did when he was writing his books:

I like that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and her team made a clear decision to include people of different races on the series, and used the fact that it isn't brought up by any of the characters to show how much more important it is that the world of The Witcher is comprised of many different species. I really liked seeing a Black elf, and, as mentioned earlier, most of us really wouldn't be paying attention to race when there are a bunch of human-like, non-humans roaming around...not to mention outright monsters.

Season 1 of The Witcher can be seen on Netflix right now, but with Season 2 entering pre-production and filming before too long, you can count on CinemaBlend for all the updates you crave!

The Witcher launched in 2019 as Netflix's first big fantasy epic, with former Superman Henry Cavill headlining as Geralt of Rivia. That said, Cavill as Geralt is almost unrecognizable from his Man of Steel days other than the muscles thanks to his makeup, his costume (which he took home), and definitely his wig. Geralt is known as the "White Wolf" for his hair in the Witcher books that inspired the Netflix series, but it turns out that nailing the white wig to complete the look took a while. Months!

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich shared the process of getting Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia wig right and why it was important for him to really be the White Wolf on The Witcher series:

Geralt may be able to pull off totally white hair on the pages of Andrzej Sapkowski's books, but bringing a white wig to the small screen is apparently complicated! Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and Co. did find a way to keep the White Wolf's wig fundamentally white by adding grime on top of it, which really makes sense for how Geralt lives. Monster-hunting isn't the cleanest business, even when Selkie Maw guts aren't involved! And, as Hissrich noted, it's important for the future of the series that Geralt remain the White Wolf.

As book readers know, the white hair is not a distinctive feature to all witchers, and Geralt is quite unique among them. Putting "months" of work into a wig might have been excessive if the white hair was just in service of a character's look in a book series for no reason but aesthetics. Since the hair color is relevant to the story, all that work is bound to pay off. As Lauren Schmidt Hissrich stated on Reddit, it will all make more sense down the line.

For his part, Henry Cavill was extremely dedicated to his transformation into Geralt, even if he wasn't one of those spending months on wig duty. He almost blinded himself by refusing to take out the colored contacts that gave him Geralt's distinctive gaze, and he made himself "miserable" with a dehydration diet to look ripped shirtless. He even put a lot of thought into the accent he'd use for Geralt.

Fortunately for Henry Cavill, who was already a Witcher fan before landing the role, the show has already been renewed for Season 2, and filming may not be too far off. Mark Hamill has thrown his hat into the casting ring to potentially play a certain character from the books, so viewers can always hope to see him step away from Luke Skywalker and into another high-profile role.

For now, you can catch all eight episodes of The Witcher Season 1 streaming on Netflix. While it will be a while before Season 2 is ready for the small screen, you can find plenty of other upcoming streaming options on our 2020 Netflix premiere schedule.

Last Friday, the highly-anticipated television adaptation of The Witcher finally hit Netflix. Although the new series primarily takes inspiration from Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s series of novels rather than the popular video games, the trailer teased an infamously steamy moment that gamers know all too well: Bathtub Geralt. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's cutscene-turned-meme was recreated in live-action thanks to Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel bod, revitalizing its popularity.

When The Witcher’s showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich was asked about her decision to include Bathtub Geralt in the first season of her Netflix adaptation, here’s what she said:

Geralt’s bath time has clearly become such an iconic visual from The Witcher franchise that the showrunner just couldn’t help making it part of her show. As Lauren Schmidt Hissrich pointed out, many fans of the fantasy saga know it first from the video game adaptations (including series star, Henry Cavill), so adding this detail to the show was a way of summoning in gamers to let them know they weren't being ignored.

The bathtub scene wasn't exactly brand new to The Witcher 3, either. It holds its origins in Andrzej Sapkowski’s 1993 short story collection about Geralt, titled The Last Wish. Of course, the visual approach skewed close enough to the digital version to work as a clear video game nod.

Geralt takes a bath in not one but two episodes of The Witcher, which can be found in the fourth and fifth episodes of the eight-episode first season, which not only follows Henry Cavill’s monster hunter, but also Anya Chalotra’s sorceress Yennefer and Freya Allan’s fugitive princess Ciri. For those non-members of the human population, here’s an image of The Witcher 3 moment that inspired meme-ry all across the internet in all it’s glory:

This moment, which came during the opening scene of 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, has become a Rickroll to a certain degree. The site PC Gamer especially had fun with Bathtub Geralt, often attaching the image to their The Witcher articles, and photoshopping other elements within it. That bit happened so often that The Witcher game's publisher CD Projekt sent the site a Bathtub Geralt statue!

Despite initially unkind reviews from critics, The Witcher has become immensely popular in its first days of release. Having already been officially renewed for a second season on Netflix, The Witcher could already begin filming again as early as spring 2020, with Lauren Schmidt Hissrich showing confidence in writing another seven seasons of the show if fans call for it.

If you’ve already binged The Witcher, check out Season 3 of Castlevania and these seven other shows streaming on Netflix while waiting for Season 2 news to come.

Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of Netflix's The Witcher.

Netflix got into the fantasy saga game with the premiere of The Witcher, based on a series of novels and short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski and starring characters already popular with gamers (and also Henry Cavill). The series is a fantasy of unprecedented scale for the streamer, and there's a reason why early comparisons were to Game of Thrones rather than to Stranger Things or Daredevil. The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich spoke with CinemaBlend and shared how releasing on Netflix shaped the storytelling in Season 1 differently than if it had aired on a weekly basis, a la Game of Thrones.

When I asked Lauren Schmidt Hissrich what streaming offered an epic fantasy saga like The Witcher that might not be possible with a traditional broadcast release, she said this:

As somebody who marathoned through the episodes of The Witcher as soon as they were available to me, I can definitely appreciate Lauren Schmidt Hissrich's support of binge-watchers! The highly-anticipated eight episodes of The Witcher Season 1 released at the end of 2019 (and just in time for the holidays, if following the adventures of a monster hunter, complicated sorceress, and increasingly brutal fugitive princess is how you want to celebrate the season).

While binge-watching may not be how Lauren Schmidt Hissrich prefers to consume her own television, the option of binge-watching meant that she and the Witcher team could approach this series for Netflix differently than any platform that doesn't release full seasons at once. Other streaming services, such as Disney+ and Hulu, generally release new episodes weekly rather than en masse, like Netflix and Amazon, which is getting into the fantasy genre itself with a Lord of the Rings series.

The Witcher storytelling was shaped throughout Season 1 by virtue of its Netflix release, as Lauren Schmidt Hissrich went on to explain:

In some ways, The Witcher Season 1 feels almost like an eight-hour movie rather than an eight-episode TV show that would be produced for a broadcast TV release. Characters don't drop the same exposition at the beginning of every episode. Although the timeline twistiness can get a bit confusing at times, when decades are passing for Yennefer (particularly following her intense physical transformation) while years pass for Geralt while only hours have passed for the unfortunate Ciri, the fast pace and development has already set up a potentially fantastic second season.

8 TV Shows Worth Streaming On Netflix As You Wait For The Witcher Season 2

The Witcher has already been renewed for Season 2, although reports about when filming plans to begin aren't too encouraging for new episodes coming any time soon. You can always watch and rewatch the eight episodes of Season 1 streaming on Netflix, or check out the short stories and novels of Andrzej Sapkowski focusing on Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri. For more of what's in store on the small screen in the not-too-distant future, check out our 2020 Netflix premiere schedule.

We’ve known for a while that Netflix will be pouring a lot of resources into its new Henry Cavill-led series The Witcher. The new show has a bit of a built-in fanbase, which is presumably why the subscription streaming service has already signed on for Season 2. As it turns out, the creative team is already working on the upcoming season, and now we have some indication of when it might be happening.

Speaking this week, Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has started talking about Season 2 of the series to various outlets. She has said that Season 2 is already in the works and could be filming as early as the spring in an interview with Collider. Then, she expounded about Season 2 quite a bit more with Games Radar, noting that the current season on Netflix offers the building blocks for what will come next.

Although that sounds vague, Lauren S. Hissrich has actually confirmed the show knows much of the direction it will go in next time around, noting,

Again, the show is expected to start filming Season 2 sometime in the spring of 2020. It's also worth noting the showrunner had previously said she has “seven seasons” of The Witcher already mapped out, although she recently told CinemaBlend she would have the ability to write a whole more should Netflix give the the opportunity to do so. Or, per what Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told us:

The Witcher really does already have a built-in fanbase, thanks to both novels, video games and more that came before the Netflix series. A lot of fans have really praised Henry Cavill’s version of Geralt so far, and while Netflix hasn’t released any official numbers for the new series yet, it has already been renewed for Season 2, which does show confidence in the project.

That said, the critical opinions for the series have been less kind, and Lauren S. Hissrich has beeen open about being far more thrilled about the audience response than the critical one. The Witcher will be able to expand its lore far more in Season 2 and perhaps that’s when the critical and fan opinions will align.

For now you can catch the first eight episodes streaming on Netflix or see what else is coming soon with our full guide to the streamer in 2020.

When fans have your back, you can face anything. The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is learning that, as fans enjoy the eight episodes of The Witcher Season 1. The Netflix series stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia and just premiered on December 20. But that's fans as opposed to critics, with one outlet in particular getting some shade from The Witcher boss and viewers.

Over at Rotten Tomatoes, Netflix's The Witcher has a "rotten" (but barely) score of 58% from critics with an enthusiastic 91% audience score. As we showed in our roundup of The Witcher reviews, most critics found something positive to say amidst constructive criticism.

However, the folks at EW tag-teamed their review of The Witcher to give it an "F" grade. One critic planned to review the show but only watched half an hour of the premiere before asking for backup. The two critics mostly ripped the series apart back-and-forth.

At one point, the first EW critic said he skipped ahead to Netflix's fifth episode. Critics not even watching all eight episodes before giving an "F" grade really upset a lot of fans. The Witcher showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich responded to the reviews, throwing some winking shade on that particular "F" review without mentioning the outlet:

Nice! The fans are the priority, as they should be, especially since The Witcher showrunner has talked about aiming for seven -- or 20? -- seasons. More than the one that's already out and the one already in the planning stages, at any rate. A show can be beloved by critics and die after one season. But a show beloved by fans can go on and on.

That's not to say all critics are evil and anyone who says anything negative about the show is the bad guy. Constructive criticism is fair game, as Lauren Schmidt Hissrich tweeted:

Very true. Sometimes people gleefully feed off hate -- like everyone ripping apart the Cats movie. And hey, at least The Witcher hasn't had a Game of Thrones coffee cup-style error yet. They almost did in Season 1, but caught it in time. That's the last time we should compare The Witcher to Game of Thrones, though, since the show has had enough of that. Still, the point is that they worked hard to make the show and Season 1 is already a hit for millions of fans.

The Witcher certainly hasn't had enough from Henry Cavill yet as Geralt, and the showrunner has talked about hoping his Superman fans watch to see what else he can do. The Witcher author himself is pleased with Cavill's performance, and the series, and hopes fans come away with one specific feeling. (I think it worked.)

If you've finished watching The Witcher Season 1 on Netflix, check out CinemaBlend's chat with actress Anya Chalotra, who explains Yennefer’s physical transformation. We'll have more interviews up later this week with The Witcher Powers That Be. Do you think Season 2 will reveal this mystery or should they keep it open to fan interpretation?

The premiere of Netflix's The Witcher is fast-approaching, and the series has some surprises in store for viewers going in expecting a straight TV version of the video games or the first novel in Andrzej Sapkowski's five-book saga. Instead, the series will kick off with adaptations of stories from Sapkowski's series of shorts from the compilation called The Last Wish, featuring Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia and others in the days before the main storyline picks up. According to the showrunner, the short stories provide what viewers will "need to understand" about the leading man.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who created the series as well as works as showrunner and executive producer, spoke with CinemaBlend about The Witcher and its basis in the short story source material. When I asked if there were any events from the books she was bound and determined would make it into the Netflix adaptation, she shared this:

The Last Wish contains several short stories, and The Witcher will include more beyond "The Lesser Evil" even as it splits the focus between the witcher Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), the sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and the princess Ciri (Freya Allan). As readers of The Last Wish know, the short story is the origin of one of Geralt's nicknames and features a memorable appearance from a character with a lasting impact on Geralt. Viewers need to understand Geralt as a witcher and Geralt as the man he becomes after the events of "The Lesser Evil."

Geralt is certainly more than just a mindless monster hunter, despite the fact that the very committed Henry Cavill doing his own stunts means viewers are in for some epic action sequences. By starting with adaptations of some of Andrzej Sapkowski's short stories, The Witcher can develop Geralt's character (as well as Yennefer and Ciri's characters) before diving into the mean of the saga of the five-novel series.

That's not to say that there won't be key changes to the source material, which are always inevitable when it comes to adapting from page to screen. The fantasy saga of The Witcher does have some advantages over Game of Thrones, as there are reasons to compare the two series even if one Witcher actor thinks comparisons aren't necessary. Unlike Game of Thrones, the Witcher source material is complete with a beginning, middle, and end to be adapted as needed.

Even if The Witcher does last for as long as Lauren Schmidt Hissrich hopes, viewers don't really need to worry that it will go off the rails as Game of Thrones arguably did once the show outpaced George R.R. Martin's source material. Hissrich and Co. have the short stories and the five novels to fuel the series for years to come, and The Witcher was renewed for Season 2 before Season 1 even premiered.

The future looks bright for The Witcher, if not necessarily for Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri. The trailer is proof that their journeys won't be easy even in the short story stage of the adaptation, and their lives will likely get even more complicated once the show dives into Andrzej Sapkowski's Blood of Elves as the first of the five Witcher novels.

For now, you can look forward to the eight episodes of The Witcher Season 1 debuting Friday, December 20 at 12:01 a.m. PT on Netflix as one of the streamer's final big 2019 releases before the 2020 Netflix lineup kicks off.

The Witcher has all the makings of an epic saga of a TV show when it releases on Netflix, although it won't be Game of Thrones 2.0 or a rehashing of Lord of the Rings. Based on Andrzej Sapkowski's series of novels and short stories about the monster-hunting witcher Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), the sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and the princess-on-the-run Ciri (Freya Allan), The Witcher has enough source material to last for many years. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich weighed in on how long The Witcher could last on Netflix.

Speaking with CinemaBlend about all things Witcher, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich shared her thoughts on the future of the series:

Yes, The Witcher could run up to or potentially even beyond seven seasons, which would mean more seasons than books of Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher saga, which itself is technically comprised of five novels and two books of short stories. That said, there's no reason to expect that each season of The Witcher will cover one book cover to cover, and all signs point toward the first season drawing heavily on the short stories rather than diving right into the first novel.

Of course, not many Netflix series run for seven seasons, let alone many more beyond that, but The Witcher is unlike anything that the streaming giant has produced before. Thanks to the facts that there is plenty of source material, the saga itself is finished on the page, and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is well-versed in the lore, this could be the kind of fantasy series that genre fans have been waiting for.

Given that the first season is focusing on short story lore to start and giving Yennefer and Ciri focus as well as The Witcher's central witcher, I asked Lauren Schmidt Hissrich if the first season will be more or less standalone to build the world and characters. She said this:

Season 1 won't just be comprised of standalone episodes setting up the world of The Witcher with stories unconnected to the larger saga, even if it does tackle short stories rather than the full first novel. Viewers shouldn't expect just eight episodes of world-building, with the meat of The Witcher being held for Season 2, which has already been ordered.

If anything, viewers should probably keep their eyes peeled for significant plot points that could come back later. According to Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, not even readers who know the short story compilations and novels from front to back will be able to 100% predict what's in store with certain twists:

The Witcher is already playing the long game, even if there's no guarantee of just how many seasons Lauren Schmidt Hissrich will pen for Netflix. This show is already avoiding one of the key problems that plagued Game of Thrones, a.k.a. the biggest fantasy series produced for TV to this point, in its later years, and that bodes well for the series as a whole.

So, what's in store for the characters on The Witcher? Henry Cavill, who campaigned for the role of Geralt of Rivia and even did his own stunts for the series, undoubtedly knew a lot about his character before signing on for the series to play the TV adaptation of Geralt, but the cast doesn't necessarily know what Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and the rest of the production team has in mind for their characters in the long run.

Freya Allan, who plays Ciri and also spoke with CinemaBlend about The Witcher, shared how much she knows about what's in store for her character moving forward:

The cast can dive into the same source material as everybody else when it comes to The Witcher, but they may not be privy to much about the show and their roles in the long run. If The Witcher goes the way of Outlander at all, then there may be small departures early on that mean key differences much later on. Fortunately, the wait for The Witcher Season 1 is almost at an end.

Netflix saved one of what could be its best for almost last in 2019, as The Witcher Season 1 releases on Friday, December 20 at 12:01 a.m. PT. Viewers will then be in for a bit of a wait before Season 2 goes live on the streamer, but Netflix has enough offerings in 2020 to keep subscribers busy. If streaming isn't always your style, our 2020 winter and spring premiere schedule can show you some other options for the small screen in the new year.

Netflix is getting magnificently monstrous with the upcoming premiere of The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill of Superman fame as the legendary monster-hunting witcher by the name of Geralt of Rivia. That said, the show -- which is based on a series of books and short stories by author Andrzej Sapkowski -- isn't just going to focus on Cavill's character, as Geralt will share the spotlight with the sorceress Yennefer and the princess Cirilla. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich shared why the series also tells Yennefer and Ciri's stories in-depth rather than solely focusing The Witcher on... well, the witcher.

Speaking with CinemaBlend about all things Witcher, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich explained the decision to fill in the backstories of Yennefer and Ciri as well as Geralt, which may come as a surprise to book fans as much as newcomers to this saga. Here's what she had to say:

This show may be called The Witcher, but that doesn't mean viewers should go into the series expecting eight episodes of Henry Cavill's Geralt from beginning to end. The show, also starring Anya Chalotra as the sorceress Yennefer and Freya Allan as Princess Ciri, has a story of three people to tell and will do so by focusing on all three characters.

After all, book readers know that Yennefer and Ciri are rich characters in their own right, and it's hard to imagine The Witcher doing justice to them without giving them their fair share of screen time. Besides, The Witcher is a TV series rather than a movie, and it has already been renewed for a second season.

So, the show has time to build the world and characters of The Witcher, and that includes more than just Geralt, even though Henry Cavill is remarkably committed to the role. He even did his own stunts for the show! Lauren Schmidt Hissrich elaborated on The Witcher focusing on Yennefer and Ciri as well as Geralt:

Instead of viewers being tasked with investing in these characters and their dynamics with each other right off the bat, The Witcher will evidently allow time to get to know Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri without immediately making their relationships a focus. The saga of The Witcher as told via Andrzej Sapkowski's novels has the advantage of characters' thoughts to reveal events without explicitly saying them; the show will handle events in a different way.

Interestingly, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and the Witcher team did have some source material as a starting point without jumping immediately into the saga. Andrzej Sapkowski also penned a series of short stories of in-universe adventures unrelated to the grand plot that is presumably to come on the TV show. Hissrich explained how the source material impacted and inspired how The Witcher handled Yennefer and Ciri in particular:

Instead of just telling Ciri and Yennefer's stories prior the novel saga via exposition, the Witcher TV show has the opportunity to show what was written and elaborate on it for audiences. This has the benefit of expanding the world of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri as well as delivering some twists that even the greatest experts in Andrzej Sapkowski's works couldn't see coming.

Now, does the fact that The Witcher is a fantasy saga based on a series of books mean that it's going to be Game of Thrones 2.0? Definitely not, and the comparisons may more or less end at the fact that they're set in the same genre and are adapted from source material, although the trailer suggests that it could be right up the alley of Thrones fans missing epic fantasy on the small screen.

Video | The Witcher Netflix Series: Everything We Know So Far

Fortunately, the wait for the series is almost at an end. Check out Henry Cavill's Geralt, Anya Cholatra's Yennefer, and Freya Allan's Ciri when The Witcher debuts on Friday, December 20 at 12:01 a.m. PT as one of the final big Netflix premieres before the streamer's 2020 lineup kicks off.