The Witcher: Blood Origin Holds An Embarrassing Record For Netflix
"The Witcher" is the rare video game adaptation that works for fans of the source material and newbies alike. Anchored by a strong performance from Henry Cavill, who also happens to be a fan of the source material, the dark fantasy series is still incredibly popular as it heads into its third season. And while Cavill won't be returning, Liam Hemsworth is stepping in to take over the titular role.
Of course, the first thing any streaming platform like Netflix thinks when they find themselves in possession of a popular new franchise is: Can we make a spin-off? Though it would seem that question has already answered itself with "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf," Netflix has doubled down with another new series: "The Witcher: Blood Origin." Sadly for fans, though, the series seems to be a major disappointment that fails to live up to its namesake as well as Netflix's generally good track record.
Fans and critics agree that The Witcher: Blood Origin is awful
According to Rotten Tomatoes, critics and fans alike have dismissed "The Witcher: Blood Origin" as vastly inferior to its parent series. While critics have been a little more kind, giving the prequel a score of 33%, fans have been brutal, lambasting the series with a paltry 10% as of press time.
Joshua Alston of Variety may have put it best. "'Blood Origin' is to 'The Witcher' television show as a slapdash downloadable expansion pack would be to the massively popular 'Witcher' video games," said Alston. "Only completists need apply." As if takedowns like this weren't embarrassing enough, the series also holds a dreadfully sad record as it has garnered the lowest fan scores of any Netflix series ever (via Forbes).
While "The Witcher" seems to be Netflix's most popular fantasy franchise, it looks like that isn't enough to make fans turn a blind eye to a prequel series that does not stick to the precise trajectory of the books by novelist Andrzej Sapkowski.
In fact, "The Witcher: Blood Origin" apparently has many of the same problems as "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," as both series are more or less cobbled together with supplementary material from their respective authors and suffer greatly as a result. Either way, with this kind of reaction from fans and critics, it doesn't seem likely that "Blood Origin" will be renewed for a second season.