Amid all the magic, the grunting, and the running away from destiny, The Witcher Season 1 had plenty of well-choreographed fight sequences. That definitely includes the renowned Blaviken market fight between Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia and Renfri, as well as the Battle of Sodden Hill. Understandably, the better a fight scene looks onscreen, it means that much more work probably went into it behind the scenes. A new video shows the crazy way The Witcher’s Kikimora fight came together.
The fight scene is important because it’s the very first time viewers are introduced to Geralt, who grunts his way through the fight like a pro. In the throes of his beastly duties, the titular character fights off the spider-like Kikimora for a bit and nearly drowns before finally stabbing it through the head with his sword. The fight is pretty brutal to watch, but it goes a long way to explain what Geralt does for money and how messy his job can be.
However, while the scene only lasted about two minutes, fight choreographer Vladimír Furdík — best known for playing Game of Thrones’ Night King — revealed that coordinating the fight sequence took a whole month. In a video released by Netflix, Furdík acts out the fight scene, but in place of the CGI Kikimora, the rehearsals included a group of people standing atop a table, holding pipes to represent the creature’s legs. The video then shows the completed scene and the rehearsal scene in a side-by-side comparison, revealing a lot of details viewers probably missed while watching. Peep the TV magic at work below!
Watching the fight rehearsal next to the actual scene in one video is admittedly pretty cool. It’s impressive how much detail and effort went into just one quick-paced scene. Fight scenes in particular are much harder to set up than most, so if the Kikimora scene took a whole month to rehearse, I imagine the behind-the-scenes rehearsals went on for a lot longer for all the battles and fight sequences that spanned more than two minutes. Toss a coin or two to Vladimír Furdík and his team for a job well done!
With so many action scenes in Season 1, there’s no telling what’s in store for the series’ sophomore outing. Unfortunately, it's unknown whether The Witcher Season 2’s release will be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Netflix series halted production earlier this month. Soon after, Game of Thrones star Kristover Hivju tested positive for coronavirus. The actor had been cast to play Nivellen in Season 2 alongside several other new cast members.
For now, fans can rewatch all of The Witcher’s glorious Season 1 fight scenes on Netflix. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates. In the meantime, be sure to check out our updated TV list for all production delays and shortened seasons.
