The world got their first official look at The Witcher Netflix series during San Diego Comic-Con 2019 and immediately, the fan reaction turned from skeptical to thrilled. The stylization, the character evolution seen in the small clip – the combat! It was incredible and the team is already gearing up for the future beyond season one. Given the potential of longevity, the inevitable question came up: Will the series ever expand towards the games and their narrative? We had a chance to talk to the showrunner, Lauren Hissrich, and she had a very definitive “no.”
When speaking with the showrunner and some of the cast, including the actresses for Ciri and Yennefer, Hissrich said that no matter how many seasons they run, “the show will never adapt the story from the game.” With CD Projekt RED’s adaptation of the novels having such a massive impact, that news is sure to disappoint many, but her reasoning was beyond sound. She told Prima Games the show gives fans a chance to learn the incredible world-building of this franchise from the ground up.
There’s a huge gap between the books and the games, and even then – the books left a lot of nuance to the minds of the reader in terms of a foundation of the world of witchers and monsters. Hissrich told us that this was the best opportunity to give both the most hardcore fans of the books and games, as well as newcomers, a chance to have a closer-than-ever look at the world we’ve all fallen in love with.
Because of that, she added that it doesn’t matter if there are 17 seasons, there’s too much of the world to explore to ever need to adapt an adaptation of an adaptation.
Makes sense.
With a tagline of “The Witcher Geralt, a mutated monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts,” it’s hard not to be totally amped for the upcoming 8-episode long series!
The upcoming show stars Man of Steel’s Henry Cavill as the main protagonist himself, alongside Freya Allan as Ciri, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, and Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold. The author of the books himself is also on board with the project, working as the creative consultant for Hissrich’s vision.
You can learn even more about the show with our previous coverage here!
