Back in May 2017, we learned that Netflix would be putting together a TV series based on The Witcher. Rather than taking notes from the video game series, the TV show will follow the original books. The pilot script has been written, we know about some of the characters set to be appear in the show, and now we have a few more details, including how long the first season will be and when we might finally get to watch it.
Netflix's Witcher showrunner and writer, Lauren S. Hissrich has been keeping us up to date on Twitter. Over the weekend, she announced that Netflix has ordered eight episodes for the show's first season, which she described as being the right call creatively, as it will allow each episode to be “rich in character and story, without lagging in the middle of the season”. So far, only the first episode has been written, but new writers are coming on board soon to get the remaining 7 scripts written up.
As for a release date, apparently we could be waiting until 2020, so it will be a while until we see a trailer, or hear anything about casting. The final tidbit of information we got over the weekend is that the show will be shot in eastern Europe, staying true to Andrzej Sapkowski's vision.
As a quick reminder, here are some of the characters confirmed to be appearing in the show so far:
Geralt will obviously be at the centre of the story, but Yennefer, Triss, Ciri, Roach (the horse), Emperor Emhyr and Jaskier (otherwise known as Dandelion) will be there. Some less familiar faces set to appear include Cahir- a Nilfguardian knight, Regis- the vampire who you will recognize from The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion, Viglefortz- a mage and member of the chapter of sorcerers, Milva- an archer and companion of Geralt and finally Leo Bonhart- a bounty hunter who claims to have taken down three Witchers in his time.
So far, the cast of characters sounds promising and if you have read the books, then you can get a rough idea of some of the stories they are planning to tell in The Witcher Netflix series.
KitGuru Says: While the wait to 2020 sounds a bit daunting, I'm still very excited about this series. Hopefully by the end of the year we'll know a bit more about it. Is there anything in particular that you'd like to see happen in the show?