Netflix Just Dropped Some Amazing News For The Witcher Season 2
The Witcher first earned notoriety as a series of books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Its title refers to the profession of its protagonist, Geralt of Rivia. He and some other key characters work as trained monster hunters, which, in this unique fantasy world, are called Witchers. Like in any proper work of fantasy, Geralt encounters kings, queens, wizards, warriors, and witches over the course of his monster-hunting journey. In fact, some of The Witcher's side characters, such as the sorceress Yennefer or bard Jaskier, remain more popular among fans of the series than its central protagonist.
In 2007, just about 15 years after the release of the first Witcher book, The Witcher was adapted into a video game by developer CD Projekt Red. Then, in 2015, CD Projekt Red released the second of two sequels, titled The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which quickly became one of the top 15 best-reviewed games of the last console generation.
Based on the popularity of the books and video game series alike, Netflix released the first season of a television adaptation of The Witcher in 2019. The series was a mixed success among reviewers, earning considerably more acclaim from fans than professional critics. Ultimately, the series was deemed successful enough for Netflix to renew it for a second season. Most recently, on April 2, 2021, the team behind the production of The Witcher publicly announced that filming of its second season was complete.
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Netflix shared the news of The Witcher wrapping filming of its second season in a video posted to the company's official YouTube channel. The video is narrated by series showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who provides some insight into what went into the production of the upcoming Witcher season.
In total, filming of The Witcher season 2 took place over the course a little more than a year. The Witcher crew ultimately worked for 158 days during that span of time. Due to the fact that the series was filmed amid an ongoing pandemic, the more than 80 non-cast members and over 1,200 crew members who collaborated on the series' latest season worked in face masks, face shields, and/or goggles whenever possible.
Plot-wise, Hissrich announced that season 2 will adapt The Blood of Elves — which is the third book chronologically in the Witcher series — "and beyond," in her own words. Some fans previously theorized that the first page of a script for The Witcher's second season shared by Netflix was adapted from a Witcher short story titled "A Grain of Truth," which could be one of the sources outside of The Blood of Elves that Hissrich mentions.
The Witcher season 2 is currently scheduled to be released sometime in 2021.Given that filming of the season is now complete despite inevitable pandemic-related complications, it very well may be on track for a release date sometime in the latter half of this year.