The Witcher Series - Everything You Need to Know!

What is The Witcher about?

In the fictional world of the protagonist Geralt of Rivia , also known as the White Wolf, there live enchanted creatures and monsters that terrify society. In order to get rid of these unpleasantness, witchers - mutants with supernatural abilities - are hired. But it turns out again and again that it is often the people who are the real monsters.
In addition to the unnatural difficulties, there are also political and social conflicts in which the witcher Geralt is drawn more and more involuntarily. Because his child of providence, Ciri , is no ordinary child and the situation becomes more and more tense.

The Witcher is an exciting and complex story about the witcher Geralt and his companions. Political and social situations are critically examined and often ridiculed with black humor. It has its origins in the book series by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski and has already inspired a three-part game series .

When does The Witcher series start?

The official release date is December 20, 2019 on Netflix and is rated FSK 16 and above.

How long should the series be?

The first season will consist of 8 episodes , each approximately 40 minutes long.

What can we expect?

There has already been a lot of reporting about the series and speculation about the direction it will take. Initially, it was assumed that we could expect a second Game of Thrones, but that will not be the case.
Although the Geralt of Rivia saga is pure fantasy , the series will be more horror- oriented . The Witcher is a lot about politics and battles , but we won't see much of that visually.
Visual Effects Supervisor Julian Perry in an interview with SFX magazine: "We have the armies of Nilfgaard, which we cannot create because they would be over 10,000 men. It's the same with the Temerians and the Cintra, these armies simply cannot be physically brought to life here on set."
Of course, that's not a nice thing to hear at first, but maybe it's the best decision after all. Because it's better to have less CGI and high-quality material than too much CGI and a poorly or bloated story.

Do you have to have read the books?

No, although the series is based more on the books than the game series, it is still not a requirement to have read the books beforehand.
As with any film adaptation of a book, there are of course advantages to having read the written works beforehand. Certain connections can perhaps be understood better and more quickly if you know what to expect. The disadvantage, on the other hand, is that you already have a certain idea of ​​the material and could possibly be disappointed.

Do you have to have played the games before?

As mentioned above, the series is based on the book series and not on the games from CD Projekt Red. The development studio did not stick strictly to Andrzej Sapkowski's original and should rather be viewed separately. So no!

Who plays who?

Geralt of Rivia - Henry Cavill

Cirilla of Cintra - Freya Allan

Yennefer of Vengerberg - Anya Chalotra

Queen Calanthe - Jodhi May

Larkspur (original Jaskier) - Joey Batey

Will there be a sequel?

The first season isn't even out yet and Netflix has already confirmed that a second season will follow . According to author Lauren Schmidt Hissrichs, there is enough material for 7 seasons in total.

More material about The Witcher

As already mentioned above, the Geralt saga originally consists of 2 volumes of short stories , an intermediate volume and a main story with around 5 books - a pentalogy. They were written by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski .

These are the books in the correct order:

The Last Wish (short story collection)
The Sword of Providence (short story collection)
Time of Storm (single volume)
The Legacy of the Elves
The Time of Contempt
baptism of fire
The Swallow Tower
The Lady of the Lake