Summary
- The Witcher series on Netflix deviates from author Andrzej Sapkowski’s source material, frustrating both fans and the creator himself.
- Henry Cavill, a fan of Sapkowski’s work, even snuck in dialogue from the books into the series without consulting anyone, which made it into the finished project.
- Filming for The Witcher season four was delayed due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, but writing has now resumed and filming is expected to begin in 2024.
When it was released in 2019, The Witcher quickly became a successful adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books for Netflix, garnering 663 million hours viewed in its first 91 days. Season two’s viewership held strong, while season three saw a drop in its audience with the news that Henry Cavill would be leaving the show and passing the torch to Liam Hemsworth in the role of Geralt of Rivia. One of the more common complaints from The Witcher fans, however, is that the series deviates from Sapkowski’s source material, leading to frustration not only from fans, but the creator himself.
Appearing at the Vienna Comic Con, Andrzej Sapkowski spoke with CerealKillerz and dished on all things Witcher, including his visit to the set of the Netflix original, and how receptive they were to his ideas for the series.
“Oh well, the set was tremendous, tremendous, awesome. But no, maybe I gave them some ideas, but they never listen to me. They never listen to me. But it’s normal, it’s normal. ‘Who’s this? It’s the writer, it’s nobody.'”
While it is common for directors, showrunners, and producers to stray from the source material when adapting literary works in order to bring fresh ideas to the screen, the frustration over The Witcher deviating so heavily even got to star Henry Cavill, who is a huge fan of Sapkowski’s work. In season two of the series, he even went so far as to sneak in some dialogue from the books that wasn’t in the original script. Though he failed to consult anyone about the changes, his words did make their way into the finished project. In a Polish interview with Marcin Zwierzchowski, Cavill spoke about the experience.
“There is a fragment right at the beginning of Blood of Elves where Geralt loses consciousness on Sodden Hill. Geralt experiences a vision at the moment and talks to Death. Then, beautiful words are uttered about crossing the meadow and the fog. There was no such scene in the series, and these words captivated me with their poetry, they were so wonderfully ‘Sapkowski’ that I wanted them to be spoken by my Geralt. However, I did not feel like having a long discussion about whether I could add this bit somewhere. So I just did it, said the words in front of the camera, and was ready to face the consequences. Eventually, this issue hit the mark in Season 2.”
For his part, Sapkowski has never been shy about sharing his thoughts on the Netflix adaptation of his life’s work. While he has never said he hates the series, he did comment, “I’ve seen better, I’ve seen worse,” during a panel at the Taipei International Book Exhibition earlier this year. You can check out his full interview with CerealKillerz from the Vienna Comic Con below.
Related: The Witcher: Did Henry Cavill’s Geralt Receive a Proper Goodbye?
The Witcher Season 4 Has Resumed Progress
Release Date December 20, 2019
Cast Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra, Mimi Ndiweni, Eamon Farren, Liam Hemsworth
Main Genre Drama
Rating TV-MA
Seasons 3
Though filming for The Witcher season four was supposed to begin in September 2023, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes brought Hollywood to a screeching halt this year, leading to the delay of many movies and TV shows, including The Witcher. Thankfully, with the strikes now over, writing has resumed on the series. Graham McTavish, who portrays Sigismund Dijkstra in The Witcher, recently told GamesRadar+ that the scripts have mostly been written.
“I’ve seen vague stuff. They don’t really like to tell us too much. I never know quite why they don’t like to tell you too much but I like the surprise, actually. I look forward to pacing the corridors again in season four, maybe with a different candle, you know, a slightly different coat. I’m looking at possibly a costume change?”
Of course, with the delay thanks to the strikes, this means filming for The Witcher season four won’t get underway until 2024, leading to a possible 2025 release date. While we know that Liam Hemsworth will step into the role of Geralt of Rivia, a popular fan theory that he’ll do so by way of a multiverse plot has been debunked by The Witcher’s executive producer.
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