Witcher TV Show – News, Information, Release and Background
News and Release Info about the Witcher TV Show on Netflix, 2019
See the Witcher Thread in the Sci Fi Forums for the latest information – We also have a more detailed Witcher TV Show background article HERE. This is a hugely anticipated show for gamers and Sci Fi and Fantasy fans that have read the book – even my wife is a big fan of the game (Witcher 3 – which she has completed!). This article aims to provide all the information you need to know about the Witcher TV show – it’s background, main characters, release date and production.
The Witcher Book series was translated to many languages and over the last 10 years it has become a best selling video game too. Now Netflix have made a TV show and the titular role will go to Henry Cavill who is determined to destroy (for a price) monsters preying on the weak while kings and armies battle for supremacy. This is a political, violent and sexy action packed fantasy saga.
What is a Witcher?
A Witcher is a “beast hunter” (more like wild beast and monster hunter!), We aren’t talking about critters here, theses can be as big as dragons! A Witcher has developed Supernatural abilities at a young age. They are, for the most part feared and usually disliked because of this. Most make money by being paid to kill beasts and monsters and other supernatural beings that trouble townspeople and nobles.
Summary of the Saga
The saga focuses on Geralt of Rivia, his wife and partner, Yennifer and Ciri, their adopted child of destiny.
Ciri is actually a princess of a recently conquered country and other factions for the country are vying to control her as a pawn for their own political power plays, Geralt helps her become a Witcher and although she is very capable, she grudgingly relies on his protection.
Geralt Of Rivia is a ‘sci fantasy’ bloke that can best be described as the ‘coolest of cool dudes!’. He has powers – not just because all women (even female monsters) seem to want to bonk his brains out! He’s also a great swordsman, excellent investigator, agile and very resilient (especially with one or two Witcher potions) and his intelligence seems to make him able to take world shattering decisions in his stride.
The Witcher Background
The original ‘Witcher’ by Andrzej Sapkowski appeared in the mid 1980’s in a Polish literary competition as a short story for the magazine, Fantastyka. It won fourth place. After numerous other short stories and anthologies in the early 1990’s, the saga was finally published as a novel called Blood of Elves in 1994 (English edition 2008). There are currently 5 books in the Witcher saga, the last being written in 1999 (Lady of the Lake).
The saga is set in an unnamed continent that was previously settled by dwarves and later elves before humans settled a few hundred years before the story of Geralt begins. Inevitably, there were wars between the races and eventually, the humans were victorious. They are now the dominant race in the continent. and all other races are considered lesser citizens. They usually live in small communities within human towns and villages. Some live in areas of wilderness with other beings such as vampires, werewolves and other more exotic races such as dryads and shapeshifters. These other races appeared after a supernatural event called the Conjunction of Spheres.
Andrzej Sapkowski Controversy
Andrzej Sapkowski has recently come under some intense criticism by fans of the video game. He is reported to have said, “How much substance can there be in the lines of text when the hero walks through the woods and talks to a squirrel? Where’s the literature in that? Where’s the room for depth or sophisticated language with which games could elevate culture? There’s none.” It seems he is annoyed that most people know the saga of the Witcher from the video game and not his books. Sapkowski sold the rights to the Witcher alleged princely sum of $9500 and no royalty fees! – Apparently he didn’t want a percentage of the profits, just the money up front. Boy did that backfire! I guess he has been a bit miffed ever since.
I heard recently that the videogame manufacturer CD Projekt Red have subsequently paid out some extra money (presumably to stop him bitching) but the fact is, the game is considerably more famous than the books. That’s not to say that the books aren’t really good, it’s just that the author seems like a bit of a dick and unappreciative of the elevated reputation he has received because of the game.
Important Card Game information
Lol, you think I’m joking!! This was a major part of the game Witcher 3 and I’m sure it will not be missed from the TV series. Even the books had the card game and thousands and thousands of players loved and hated playing it – I currently have very little information on GWENT (ooowwwer, saying the name sent a shiver just went down my spine – how many of you loved or hated it!?)
Witcher the TV show
Witcher is a Netflix television production and will be closely based on the Polish novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. It will therefore be very similar to the very popular PC game by CD Projekt Red. It’s had a high pedigree showrunner in place for a while, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (writer for Daredevil and The Defenders) but the biggest credibility boon is by far the creative consultant, non other than Andrzej Sapkowski himself!
“I’m thrilled that Netflix will be doing an adaptation of my stories, staying true to the source material and the themes that I have spent over thirty years writing,” said Sapkowski. “I’m excited about our efforts together, as well as the team assembled to shepherd these characters to life.”
It all sounds very eloquent but will bathtub Geralt appear in the series?
If you still need convincing that this will be a serious contender for best sci fi Fantasy show 2019, Sean Daniel (The Mummy franchise, The Expanse) and Jason Brown (The Expanse), partners at the Sean Daniel Company are executive producers.
Who is playing the key Characters
Henry Cavill is an absolute shoe-in for the part of Geralt and it’s a part he wanted to play from the outset. He is a big fan of the books and especially the games (Witcher 3). He was announced and the titular beast slayer in 2018 after pestering his agents to get meetings arranged with the showrunner and writer, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich.
The female roles for the show will be provided by the lovely, Frey Allaan (from ‘Into the Badlands’) as Ciri and the beautiful Anya Chalotra (from the ‘The ABC Murders’ and ‘Wanderlust’) as Yennefer. Ciri is the young princess of Cintra, one of the kingdoms in the world of The Witcher, and Yennefer is a sorceress who is Geralt’s love interest and mother to Ciri.
I am really impressed with the way the casting has tried, as much as possible, to keep the looks of the main characters similar to the game. It sounds petty, but the look and graphics for the game were considered by many, to be excellent features and many of us are sincerely hoping that the look and feel of the new show matches the game ambience that we came to know and love.
Fans of the game will be pleased to know that other characters besides Yennefer, Ciri, Roach, and Triss will be joining Geralt. We know that Regis the vampire and Emhyr var Emreis will be part of the saga as will the excellent Dandelion (although he will be called Jaskier as he was in the book series).
Witcher – Release Date
This has not been officially released but there are some very clear hints. All we know about the official release date is that it is definitely in the last three months of 2019. However, the Dutch Facebook account published a post on September 11th that provided a countdown of 97 days to the release of Witcher. That would make the release date December 17th.
That’s awful! It’s also really possible as a Christmas Holiday release. Personally I was hoping for early November. If we hear anything else, you will see it on this site – promise! It is very likely that Sci Fi SadGeezers will be reviewing each episode as it airs.
This TV show is being touted as a contender for the a replacement Game-Of-Thrones’-a-like SciFantasy.
The Witcher characters, pictures and everything else associated with the TV show are the property of Netflix and Andrzej Sapkowski.
