First we had the Witcher book series, and then we had the games.
Now we have a promising Netflix series with a Game of Thrones feel.
You don't have to be a super-fan to get on the Witcher hype train, because this is the
best time to climb aboard.
The Witcher is, of course, the story of a witcher, Geralt of Rivia, but the story is
also about Yennefer and Ciri.
Destiny has bound Geralt to these two women, and it seems the series is going to explore
these ties just as the video games - and, of course, the books - do.
Henry Cavill, DC's very own Superman, has taken on the role of Geralt and brought along
his most smoldering, soul-piercing looks and his stubbly square jaw.
Our two leading ladies, stepping into the roles of the sorceress Yennefer and the so-called
"witcher girl" Ciri, are both relatively new to the acting business.
Yennefer is played by Anya Chalotra, whose eyes are the precise shade of violet as described
in the books.
We don't have smell-o-vision, but we imagine that she does indeed smell of lilac and gooseberries,
her signature scent.
"Looking for a woman."
"Ahhh, like everyone."
"Not like everyone, and not just every woman.
Mine smells of lilac and gooseberries."
The first glimpse of Geralt's daughter Ciri, played by Freya Allan, has her looking appropriately
elfish in a green cloak that serves to bring out her verdant eyes.
These first brief glimpses have reassured fans of the show's attention to detail in
recreating the books.
"This child will be extraordinary."
Netflix isn't always forthcoming with release dates.
They have the benefit of a guaranteed delivery system: one day the whole series pops up on
one's feed to enjoy.
When do we get to enjoy The Witcher?
Definitely sooner rather than later.
We don't have an exact date, but more and more teasers and information have been paving
the way for the show's eventual release later in 2019.
Stranger Things was the hit of summer, so perhaps the streaming giant is positioning
The Witcher to be the hit of the fall.
The show is expected to be appropriately spooky for Halloween viewing pleasure.
After all, Geralt's main duty is battling the ghastly monsters that go bump in the night.
You thought the spider in the swamp at the end of the trailer was scary?
Just wait until he encounters a striga or a wraith later this year.
Netflix pretty much has the power to do anything it wants, budget-wise.
With everyone and their grandmother subscribed to the streaming platform, their original
shows are apparently given fairly hefty budgets when it comes to production.
The Witcher will consist of eight episodes - that's eight hours of fantasy magic and
mayhem - and the producers have promised that each and every episode will be, quote, "epic
in scale."
Showrunner Lauren Hissrich assured Witcher fans via Twitter that the show wasn't going
to look cheap.
She wrote:
"TV budgets are big.
They are.
We'll be using money as wisely as we can, to do as much as we can.
(Monsters included - and still very much in hot discussion)."
Hissrich also mentioned that she wasn't going to try to pack in too much plot in these eight
episodes, so as to allow for relationships and characters to grow naturally.
You know what that means?
More seasons.
While we don't have any concrete numbers regarding The Witcher's budget, Netflix seems to have
granted the show enough cash for to lay the foundation for a pretty special experience.
There are eight books in The Witcher series.
We highly doubt that each episode will try to cram an entire novel into an hour, so we're
left to wonder which stories have been chosen for this season on Netflix.
The books take their time, allowing readers to get to know Geralt and his world of monsters.
Taking a look at the named characters in the cast, some of the plot seems to have been
pulled from the prequel book, The Last Wish.
On the other hand, the trailer shows scenes ripped straight from the following book, Blood
of Elves.
In the first volume of Geralt's story, this installment finds him raising Ciri in Kaer
Morhen, but eventually takes her out and into the world at the sorceress Triss' prodding.
This is where Yennefer comes in, and Ciri exchanges her witcher training — all sword
fighting and pirouettes — for a focus on magic.
No matter the narrative path that Hissrich and company take in telling the fantastical
tale of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, one thing is for certain — it will be a road paved
with twists, turns, and intrigue….
And stained in a heaping helping of blood.
Andrzej Sapkowski, the author behind Geralt, isn't a big fan of the various adaptations
of his books.
He's not bitter — just busy.
He has said that he never played the games based on his books, not because he didn't
like them, but because he's a writer and he's got writing to do.
He is, after all, a professional.
“This world doesn't need a hero…
It needs a professional."
Apparently, he has applied this same attitude to the Netflix adaptation and has been utterly
hands-off with the production.
Sapkowski told Portugese website JPN:
"In all adaptations, be it the first or the last, I am never involved in its development.
From my point of view, the book is the book and adaptation is adaptation."
Showrunner Lauren Hissrich has assured fans that the Netflix adaptation has the author's
seal of approval, however.
Perhaps in an effort to prove that she really knows her stuff, Hissrich's Twitter has been
a veritable treasure trove of maybe-spoilers, cryptically answering fans' questions with
winks and nudges as to what our first season with Geralt will entail.
She has continually referred back to the books as the solid basis on which The Witcher's
Netflix adaptation has been written.
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