Netflix Announces Prequel Series to The Witcher titled “The Witcher: Blood Origin”
Netflix has announced The Witcher: Blood Origin, a limited series from The Witcher universe that will act as a prequel series to the original show.
The show will be set in an elven world 1,200 years before the adventures of Geralt, Cirri, and Yennefer on the continent and will chart the roots of the very first Witcher.
The live-action limited series is scheduled to be six episodes long and is slated to shoot in the UK. The Witcher writer Declan de Barra will act as showrunner for Blood Origin, and Lauren S. Hissrich, who was the show-runner for the original series is also on board as executive producer. Author Andrzej Sapkowski will serve as creative consultant on the series. Jason Brown and Sean Daniel from Hivemind and Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko from Platige Films will all serve as executive producers.
The synopsis reads:
Set in an elven world 1200 years before the world of The Witcher, Blood Origin will tell a story lost to time – the origin of the very first Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal ‘conjunction of the spheres,’ when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.
Declan de Barra said:
“As a lifelong fan of fantasy, I am beyond excited to tell the story The Witcher: Blood Origin. A question has been burning in my mind ever since I first read The Witcher books – What was the Elven world really like before the cataclysmic arrival of the humans? I’ve always been fascinated by the rise and fall of civilizations, how science, discovery, and culture flourish right before that fall. How vast swathes of knowledge are lost forever in such a short time, often compounded by colonization and a rewriting of history. Leaving only fragments of a civilization’s true story behind. The Witcher: Blood Origin will tell the tale of the Elven civilization before its fall, and most importantly reveal the forgotten history of the very first Witcher.”
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich added:
“I am so thrilled to collaborate with Declan and the Netflix team on The Witcher: Blood Origin. It’s an exciting challenge to explore and expand The Witcher universe created by Andrzej Sapkowski, and we can’t wait to introduce fans to new characters and an original story that will enrich our magical, mythical world even more.”
Author, Andrzej Sapkowski was also on hand to provide his thoughts on the newly announced series:
“It is exciting that the world of Witcher – as planned in the very beginning – is expanding. I hope it will bring more fans to the world of my books.“
In January 2020, Netflix also announced an animated spin-off film titled The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf, focusing on the origin story of Geralt’s mentor and fellow Witcher Vesemir. With this joining the ensemble of the second season of The Witcher and the now-announced prequel to the show, Netflix has made their intent clear on wanting to expand this mystical universe further.
Neither a cast nor a date of release has been revealed for The Witcher: Blood Origin yet. However, considering the second season of The Witcher has seen a delay in filming until August due to the pandemic, it may potentially be some distance away.
Source: Deadline & Gamesradar
