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:
What was the world before the Conjunction? How did it change? Because all of these spheres came together…And one of the things that Declan de Barra, who wrote the series, brought to it is: what if that world is not a medieval version of our medieval world, but in fact an age of enlightenment? How is it slightly more modern? How is that civilization more learned in some ways? And then how do we start to lay the stepping stones to where we are now? I think it's an incredible and fun twist on the story, and I think it will set it apart, because it doesn't look exactly like The Witcher.
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:
It's still got the epic scope. It still has elves. It still has battles and swords, and all of those fun things that you would expect. But I think it really gives us a chance, in terms of the palette, or in terms of the locations, to push things in a slightly new direction. So that has been amazing for our production team.
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.
