Television

'The Witcher: Blood Origin' Prequel Series Announced By Netflix

the witcher blood origin
By Hoai-Tran Bui

Toss a coin to the very first Witcher, who will be the star of the forthcoming prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin. Netflix announced the six-part live-action The Witcher spin-off series, which will further expand the grim and violent world of its hit fantasy series alongside the upcoming anime film.

Netflix announced the live-action prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin, which will take place in an "elven world" 1,200 years before the events of the Henry Cavill-starring The Witcher. The series will follow the origins of the very first Witcher, as well as the events that brought together the "worlds of monsters, men, and elves."

"1200 years before Geralt of Rivia, the worlds of monsters, men and elves merged into one, and the first Witcher came to be," Netflix announced on its Twitter account. "Announcing The Witcher: Blood Origin, a 6 part live-action The Witcher spin-off series from Declan de Barra and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich."

The prequel series will be spearheaded by Declan de Barra, who wrote an episode of The Witcher. The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich will act as executive producer while the author of the books upon which the Netflix fantasy series is based, Andrzej Sapkowski, will serve as creative consultant. De Barra said in a statement to Deadline:

"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."

"I am so thrilled to collaborate with Declan and the Netflix team on The Witcher: Blood Origin," Hissrich added. "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."

The Witcher: Blood Origin joins the anime film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf as the latest spin-off of The Witcher franchise, as Netflix cashes in on its hit fantasy series, which became its second-most watched show in 2019. But as Blood Origin has little connection to Cavill's character, whose hilariously stoic performance arguably made the series a massive hit, this new series will be a test as to whether The Witcher can be a successful franchise as Netflix wants it to be.

There is no set date yet for the premiere of The Witcher: Blood Origin, but the series will shoot in the U.K.

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