Update 12/20/22: You can now watch the official trailer for The Witcher: Blood Origin below. The Witcher: Blood Origin makes it debut on Netflix on Christmas Day. Scroll down to read everything you need to know about the upcoming series.
Original Article 11/23/22: The Witcher franchise went to an unexpected place recently. Henry Cavill, whose presence was an integral part of why this show is more enjoyable than it needed to be, decided to leave the building. He shall be replaced by Liam Hemsworth, presumably so that Cavill can go back to being Superman with fewer projects on his plate. Hemsworth did the semi-stoic thing on The Hunger Games, but can he please a rabid fandom who loved that Cavill lived and breathed the video games like they were his own nerd-children?
That remains to be seen. Cavill’s second-season co-star (and onscreen mentor as Vesemir), Kim Bosnia, told us how Cavill was the soul of the show as well as its heart and brain. We’ll see Henry for one more season, but the franchise feels different now, and Hemsworth cannot be looking forward to the inevitable scrutiny that his arrival shall bring in Season 4. However, the franchise must travel back in time now for a pre-planned jaunt into the days when elves weren’t considered vermin.
That’s quite a departure from the conflicts seen in the O.G. series, which infamously saw Geralt of Rivia and Jaskier tangle with some angry, ostracized elves. That conflict led to Jaskier amplifying (with a banger) what had actually transpired and painting Geralt as the kicker of elf asses. It’s something that was completely ridiculous, but Geralt didn’t bother to correct The Bard. Now, the elves will get their day in the spotlight with the limited prequel series called The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Netflix’s four-part event series will stream on Christmas Day. A teaser trailer reveals enough sword-and-ax swinging to make John Wick take notice. Now, I’m dreaming of a crossover, but first, here’s that teaser trailer, which travels 1,200 years back in time:
This series, which will star Michelle Yeoh portrays Scian as an elven swordmaster, also stars Jodie Turner-Smith, Jacob Collins-Levy, and Sophia Brown. We’ll probably see the inception of the first Witcher prototype, but before that happens, we’ll see a world where elves weren’t nearly as shunned as they are in the series proper. We’ll see no Geralt, Ciri, or Jennifer, but I can always dream that Jaskier will time travel. Maybe not? Oh well. Let’s do an official synopsis:
Set in an elven world 1200 years before the time of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, The Witcher: Blood Origin will tell a tale lost to history: the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that led to the pivotal Conjunction of the Spheres, when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.
The Witcher: Blood Origin premieres on December 25.
