It’s no secret that fans are pissed about the state of The Witcher series and its treatment by the writers and showrunners over at Netflix. After so much turbulence and turmoil surrounding the intentional abandonment of the source material in the first two seasons, fans are right to be upset. However, no one seems more upset by the decisions made by Netflix and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich than leading man Henry Cavill, as proven by his announcement of departure from the series at the end of Season 3. And now, it seems Lauren finally has something to say about it…
Speaking to TechRadar, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich sat down to discuss the upcoming prequel show, The Witcher: Blood Origin (which appears to abandon the source material so the writers can add their own creative spin on things), a story that takes place more than one thousand years before the events involving Geralt. During the discussion, Hissrich finally addressed the situation, seemingly pleading with fans to return to the series despite Cavill’s announcement of leaving the show. Here is what she had to say:
“It’s a big deal for us, too… And that’s the thing – there’s a lot of talk and rumors about and we fully understand why fans are going there.
“What I will say is please come back for The Witcher season three so that we can continue to do this. Obviously, that [Cavill’s departure] is huge news. But what I don’t want to do is – this has to stay about Blood Origin, Declan [de Barra, Blood Origin’s showrunner], the cast, and the crew. This is their time in the spotlight.”
Fans have been critical of the series since it first began with the first season over on Netflix but things really came to a head when the source material was thrown out the window in season two. After that, news started to spread that the writers and showrunners for The Witcher openly despised and mocked the source material, not wanting to follow the books, written by Andrzej Sapkowski, that the show is based.
Cavill, as an avid fan of the books and games, had expressed great interest in staying with The Witcher for many more seasons as long as the showrunners stayed faithful to the series and has been quoted saying as much in interviews. However, it is clear that his battles on set with the writers and his attempts to course-correct the show ended up in vain after all.
It’s official: The Witcher is returning for Season 4, and Henry Cavill will be handing his swords to Liam Hemsworth as the new Geralt of Rivia after Season 3. Welcome to the Witcher family, @LiamHemsworth!
Read more: https://t.co/ABQMdqkzXX pic.twitter.com/xyIaRBbiRT
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) October 29, 2022
The topic of season three has been divisive with fans, at best, with many taking to social media to express their intent to abandon the series either before the third season debuts on Netflix next summer or immediately after it concludes in an attempt to stand in solidarity with Cavill on how he and the franchise have been treated.
The Witcher Season 3 debuts in the summer of 2023 and has already been renewed for Season 4 with Liam Hemsworth stepping in to take over the role. To be clear, this means that Cavill will still be Geralt of Rivia throughout the show’s third season and then will immediately be replaced thereafter.
At this point, it seems painfully obvious that the backlash from fans and the word of mouth about the writers’ treatment of the source material could completely tank the series. And while we can only speak for ourselves, we can say with utmost certainty that season three will be our last with The Witcher on Netflix as we certainly have no interest in the prequel series either. Best of luck to all parties involved with The Witcher IP under Netflix henceforth. They are going to need it.
The Witcher: Blood Origin releases later this month on December 25th and stars Sophia Brown, Michelle Yeoh, Minnie Driver, Laurence O’Fuarain, Lenny Henry, Mirren Mack, Nathaniel Curtis, and Dylan Moran.
