Lauren Hissrich, showrunner of Netflix’s adaptation of The Witcher franchise, has announced a spinoff show, The Witcher: Blood Origin. It will be set 1200 years before the main adaptation and the adventures of Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia, and promises to reveal the origin of the first Witcher – that strange order of mutated, devilishly handsome monster hunters.
Netflix describes it as a six part, live-action limited series, and gives the synopsis “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.”
This has been the toughest secret to keep! I've always wanted to dive deeper into the myth and lore of the Continent, and now fans will have a chance to explore it with @declandebarra in a prequel series, THE WITCHER: BLOOD ORIGIN. Elves, and enemies, and the end, oh my… https://t.co/SGzrf4WbxZ
— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 27, 2020
Declan de Barra, who previously wrote the Witcher episode ‘Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials’, is attached as showrunner. De Barra commented “As a lifelong fan of fantasy, I am beyond excited to tell the story ‘The Witcher: Blood Origin,’” stated . “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.”
And Andrzej Sapkowski, author of the original Witcher stories, added “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.”
While Sapkowski may have written the books which began the franchise, its success is down largely to the critically acclaimed video game adaptations, sitting pretty on well over 50 million copies sold worldwide.
Although Netflix’s adaptation of The Witcher is only one season in, filming on the second is due to resume next month, and the fact there’s already a spinoff in the works demonstrates just how enthusiastically audiences have received it – it was one of Netflix’s most popular shows of 2019.
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