The Witcher Fans Just Got The Coolest News Ever
Fans tossed a coin to their witcher, and now Netflix's tossing one back.
The streaming giant announced on Monday, July 27, 2020 that it's developing The Witcher: Blood Origin, a live-action prequel series to accompany the Netflix original The Witcher.
Set 1,200 years before the events of The Witcher, itself based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's beloved novels and short stories, Blood Origin takes place in an elven world and details the rise of the first of all the witchers — magically enhanced monster-hunters like Geralt of Rivia (played by Henry Cavill). Per a press release sent to Looper, the prequel will "tell a story lost to time," and follow the events that lead to "conjunction of the spheres, when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one."
The Witcher: Blood Origin will run for six episodes and will film in the U.K. at an undisclosed date. As of this writing, Netflix hasn't announced a release date for the prequel show. OG series showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich will executive produce Blood Origin alongside Declan de Barra, who previously wrote for The Witcher and who will serve as Blood Origin's showrunner. Sapkowski serves as creative consultant on the project, ensuring that whatever happens on the prequel aligns with his previously built world.
"As a lifelong fan of fantasy, I am beyond excited to tell the story The Witcher: Blood Origin. A question has been burning in my mind ever since I first read The Witcher books — What was the elven world really like before the cataclysmic arrival of the humans?" de Barra said in a statement. "The Witcher: Blood Origin will tell the tale of the elven civilization before its fall, and, most importantly, reveal the forgotten history of the very first witcher."
Hissrich said in her own statement that Blood Origin will further "enrich" the universe that fans already know and love.
The world of The Witcher continues to grow
Exciting as this news is, it isn't the first and only way in which the Witcher universe is expanding.
Shortly after the first season of The Witcher hit Netflix in December 2019, the streamer announced that it was putting into development a standalone anime film entitled The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. Hissrich teamed up with writer Beau DeMayo to create Nightmare of the Wolf, animated by The Legend of Korra production house Studio Mir.
The film, which doesn't yet have a release date either, will take audiences "back to a new threat facing the Continent" and center on Geralt of Rivia's longtime mentor Vesemir as he embarks on his own witcher journey "after the mysterious Deglan claims him through the Law of Surprise" (via Eurogamer). Considering its central character is the person who mentored Geralt as he was becoming the witcher we know him to be today, Nightmare of the Wolf will act as a prequel movie to the flagship series. With Nightmare of the Wolf and now Blood Origin, fans will get a whole lot of backstory to precede the events of The Witcher.
Additionally, the Witcher world will grow wider with the upcoming release of the show's second season. Hissrich has teased that season 2 of The Witcher will bring together all the individual storylines of season 1 — focused on Geralt, Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and Princess Ciri (Freya Allan) — in an exciting way. Forthcoming episodes are also set to show a new side of Ciri; introduce characters like Ciri's sword-fighting trainer Coen (Yasen Atour), Geralt's close friend and ally Eskel (Thue Ersted Rasmussen), the curse-bound noble Nivellen (Kristofer Hivju), the Dol Blathanna queen Francesca Findabair (Mecia Simson), and Vesemir himself (Kim Bodnia); and be more character-driven than season 1.
In all, this is just the beginning for the cinematic side of the Witcher universe, which has long been thriving with Sapkowski's written works and CD Projekt Red's video games. Who knows? Maybe Netflix will greenlight more spin-off series and solo flicks. A Yennefer standalone movie? A film all about Jaskier (Joey Batey)? Sign us up.