'The Witcher' Showrunner Has Seven Seasons Planned

In the spirit of being overprepared (or perhaps tempting fate), The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich has revealed she has seven seasons mapped out for the Netflix series. Whether or not the Henry Cavill-starring fantasy show actually makes it to seven full seasons is a question for another day, but for now, Hissrich is in this for the long haul.

During an interview with SFX Magazine (via The Playlist), The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich laid out ambitious plans for the upcoming Netflix series. "I've [mapped out stories] for seven seasons," said Hissrich. "Right now it's just about, 'how do you set up stories that really capture audiences for years at a time?'"

Hissrich continued: "The worst thing we could do is put all of our energies just into season one, and not be thinking about where these characters can grow to."

When approaching TV, this can be a slippery slope. On one hand, it's good to be prepared and plan ahead. Some shows (I'm looking at you, Lost) failed to map future seasons out and ran into some trouble further down the line. Then again, even the most meticulous plans can change. Case in point: Jesse Pinkman was originally intended to die during the first season of Breaking Bad, but creator Vince Gilligan realized what a mistake that would be and kept the character alive till the end (and beyond).

Yet you could also be setting yourself up for disaster. Leaving something unsaid and hoping to address it in a future season could backfire if future seasons end up not happening. Will The Witcher really last seven seasons on Netflix? Has any Netflix show lasted that long? The good news is that if Netflix really wants to keep this series going that long, they have plenty of material to work with: There are eight Witcher books to adapt.

The Witcher "is an epic tale of fate and family. Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together." The series premieres on Netflix December 20, 2019.