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It seems it’s been an eternity since we last tossed a coin to Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia on Netflix’s The Witcher, but in no time at all we’ll be tossing all the coins as the fantasy series and numerous other projects based off the work of Andrezej Sapkowski’s iconic collection of books. With a prequel series, The Witcher: Blood Origin, an animated movie, and more, our journey with the legendary witcher and his band of misfits is only beginning.
And yeah, it’s true that fans of The Witcher have been waiting for well over a year since we last caught up with Geralt, Crown Princess Ciri, and anyone else on the the Continent, but there has been plenty of progress behind the scenes with a lot coming down to pike. That being said, let’s take a look at all of the upcoming properties tied to The Witcher…
The Witcher Season 2
The Witcher Season 2 is slated to premiere on Netflix at some point in 2021 despite it still being in production well over a year after cameras starting rolling in February 2020. And while a lot of specifics about the season’s plot have yet to be revealed, it sounds like Geralt’s return will be bloody and epic in the premiere. And fans of the books will be happy to hear that Queen Meve will be showing up at one point or another, not to mention the excitement that came from those images released back in October 2020.
Before The Witcher even premiered on Netflix in December 2019, the streaming giant announced that the fantasy series had already been renewed for a second season, giving fans hope that the show would be more than just a one-and-done type situation. The show continued to gain momentum following the success of its first season and production quickly got underway in early 2020 with hopes of having Season 2 debut at some point in 2021, though an exact date was not announced. But this is where things get a little messy…
Not long after principal photography got underway in early 2020, The Witcher, like virtually every TV and film production, was forced to halt production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After nearly a half-year of waiting, the cast and crew resumed production on The Witcher Season 2 in August 2020, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. With additional lockdowns being put in place and the show’s star, Henry Cavill, injuring himself, The Witcher was met by even more delays as the year went on.
The Witcher: Blood Origin
In July 2020, Netflix announced its plans to further expand its fantasy franchise with the prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin. According to the streamer, this series will take place 1,200 years before the events of The Witcher and be set in a world of elves. This “story lost to time,” will show fans of the series the origin of the first Witcher as well as the events that transpired in the centuries leading up to the main show. This forgotten history of the first Witcher and exploration of the Elven civilization before it came crumbling down is something showrunner Declan de Barra said he was excited to tackle when the spinoff was first announced by Netflix.
Exactly when Declan de Barra will get to tell that story remains to be seen as no release date has been announced for The Witcher: Blood Origin, but Redanian Intelligence, a blog covering all things pertaining to The Witcher, reported that production could take place between May and December 2021. This could have the six-episode prequel series debut as early as spring 2022.
The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf
In addition to all the live-action series coming out in The Witcher’s universe, Netflix will also be releasing an anime film titled The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. First announced back in January 2020 that a new Witcher story was in the works, one that would take viewers back to the Continent where a new threat was on the rise. The animated feature is being overseen by The Witcher’s showrunner Lauren Schmidt and head writer Beau DeMayo, and is animated by Studio Mir, the famed animation house behind The Legend of Korra.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will center on the Witcher Vesemire and take place years before Geralt came into the picture and became the fierce warrior with an affinity for baths. And even though Nightmare of the Wolf is an animated feature, as opposed to a live-action series, it will be canon to The Witcher and feature similar elements taken from Andrzej Spakowski’s novels.
There is no word on when the The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will be released, though there is already a Netflix page for the title listing its runtime at 81 minutes. Hopefully that means it's ready to go and will premiere at some point in 2021.
The Witcher — Volume 5: Fading Memories (Graphic Novel Collection)
It’s not just Netflix series and movies coming out for The Witcher franchise in the near future as the fifth volume in in Dark Horse Comics’ run of graphic novels is set to land in bookstores (and digital retailers) in summer 2021. The Witcher — Volume 5: Fading Memories will serve as a collection of four issues in the comic books series dating back to December 2018 from Bartosz Sztybor.
The latest collection from Dark Horse Comics The Witcher series is based on the video game series (more on that next) and is produced alongside CD Projekt Red, the game’s developer. This 104-page volume follows Geralt as he becomes wrapped up in the drama of a small town dealing with the kidnapping of young children by Foglets, magical beings who appeared in the expansive world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Fading Memories is currently slated to be released August 10, 2021.
Pre-order The Witcher — Volume 5: Fading Memories on Amazon here.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Next-Gen Version (Video Game)
CD Projekt Red’s open-world fantasy video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was first released on PC and consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) on May 19, 2015, with various DLC packages and updates being released on those platforms as well as the Nintendo Switch in the years following. And now it appears Geralt will live to see another day (in 4k resolution) on next-gen (or current-gen depending on how you look at console generations) at some point in 2021.
Prior to the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles in November 2020, CD Projekt Red announced that the studio was working on a new version of The Witcher 3, one that would take full advantage of the consoles’ advanced hardware capabilities. With a range of visual and technical improvements like ray tracing and improved load times, the new version of the game will also feature all expansions and bonus content that has been released over the years. Oh, and those who have already purchased The Witcher 3 on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One will receive a free upgrade to the next-gen version upon its release.
Untitled Fourth Witcher Video Game
There has been talk of the successor to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ever since the game was released more than five years ago, with the game’s developer CD Projekt Red going on the record in 2016 saying that the most recent chapter in Geralt’s story would be his last. That didn’t do much to quell rumors and speculation as the topic has come up numerous times since then, even as the game studio turned its focus to the development and eventual 2020 release of Cyberpunk 2077.
In a 2018 interview with Polish finance website Bankier.pl (via TechSpot), CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski said the first three titles in the series made up a solid trilogy but that the franchise wasn’t necessarily going to end there, going on to call The Witcher one of the studio’s two franchises on which they would build their future. Kicinski would go on to make similar statements at a 2020 industry event (via Eurogamer.pl/GameRadar) when he revealed that the studio had a “relatively clear concept” for the next entry in the series.
Upcoming The Witcher Books?
Andrzej Sapkowski hasn’t published a new book in The Witcher series since the 2013 release of the sidequel novel Season of the Storms, which wasn’t released until 14 years after The Witcher Saga concluded back in 1999. There have been English translations that have come out since then, but the Polish fantasy writer hasn’t produced any new stories involving everyone’s favorite Witcher or other characters from the franchise since.
Now, that isn’t to say there is a great deal of speculation surrounding Andrzej Sapkowski and his crowning achievement in the years since the final book’s release. In a February 2020 interview with Audible, the accomplished novelist was asked if he had plans to write another prequel novel at any point in the future to which he replied:
I never disclose my plans, sorry. Be patient.
Andrzej Sapkowski has previously told fans that he would never write a continuation of The Witcher Saga, but in a 2018 interview with Orbit Books, he said he was open to the idea of writing another book about Geralt, similar to the fashion seen with Season of the Storms.
Well, it certainly looks like The Witcher (the shows, movie, graphic novels, games, and books) isn't going anywhere any time soon. Which of these projects are you most excited to check out? Leave your response in the poll down below.
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