Over the past three years,The Witcherhas grown to become one of Netflix’s most popular and reliable properties. Although theBlood Originprequel will take the main series’ spot as this holiday season’s headliner release, season three is slowly coming together.
Part of this was showcased during Netflix’s big TUDUM event a couple of weeks ago. During the event, the Witcher himself, Henry Cavill, shared some updates on the new season, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes footage featuring his co-stars Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra. So what is there to know aboutThe Witcher’sthird live-action chapter? And how will the series continue to distinguish itself from Andrzej Sapkowski’s books and CD Projekt Red’s games?
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Release Window & Trailers
The Witcher’ssecond season was severely impacted by COVID-related delays and even Cavill picking up a knock that affected the planned filming schedule. However, production has gone much smoother this time around with. Filming commenced in early April and wrapped up towards the middle of September. While season 3 was never going to come out earlier than the prequel, andBlood Originallegedly experienced its own reshoots, TUDUM confirmedThe Witcherwill be coming backin the summer of 2023. No specific release date has yet been announced, but somewhere between June and August is the most likely option.
Unfortunately, there are no trailers or teasers of any kind for now. OnceBlood Origin’smomentum fades, viewers should expect the first preview to come out roughly one or two months ahead of release. As a bonus,The Witcher’sfourth and fifth seasonsare believed to undergo production in back-to-back fashion, meaning the waiting period might not be as long in the future.
Season 3 Plot
As stated previously by showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich,The Witcher’sthird season will mostly focus on the events covered in Sapkowski’sTime of Comtemptnovel, after season 2 went over most ofBlood of Elvesand what the writers deemed appropriate to extract fromA Grain of Truth. Crucially, Hissrich has said she believesTime of Contemptto be one od Sapkowski’s more adaptable novels, as it includes plenty of action for those fans that love that part of the show. Storytelling in the third season should be a far cry from the first season’s convoluted time jumps.
There are plenty ofunforgettable moments coming inThe Witcher’sthird season. Among the ones with the most meaningful consequences will be the Thanedd Coup, Ciri’s journey in Aretuza as Yennefer’s apprentice, and the rise of the Scoia’tael faction. Mages like Djikstra, Philippa and Vilgefortz will become more important as the political tides change, and leaked images have alreadyteased one of Geralt’s biggest fights taking place.
For the most part, Hissrich has hinted that Netflix’s adaptation will roughly cover one book per season, Nevertheless, the show has already introduced one huge change fromThe Witcherstory. Even Henry Cavill has teased Geralt could venture toone ofThe Witcher 3’sDLC locations, Touissant, despite the self-confessed Witcher nerd not being as familiar with the game’s extra content. On the other hand,regardless of the Wild Hunt showing upas part of season two’s ending, these ghastly riders shouldn’t be expected to feature much this time around, if at all.
The Continent’s Cast
It’s a given thatThe Witcher’smain trio of Cavill, Allan, and Chalotra will return in their leading roles. The same goes for pretty much the entire cast, with one notable exception. As noted in late August, Chris Fultonwon’t be reprising his part as Rience, the fiery mage that haunted Jaskier, Yennefer and Ciri, instead, actor Sam Woolf will step in his shoes.
There are new additions though. Meng’er Zhang (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) has been cast as Milva, an archer whose importance grows later on in the story, in spite of her never being featured inThe Witchergames. Joining her will be Robbie Amell as Galatin, Hugh Skinner as Prince Radovid, and Christelle Elwin as Mistle. There are at least a few more minor castings not yet officially confirmed by Netflix or the team behind the show. Most notably among these, Stuart Thompson will be coming in as Fabio Sachs.The Witcher 3fans might know that could meanseeing more of Ciri’s newly-acquired fighting skills.
Overall, Netflix’s continuously expandingWitcheruniverse heads towards its third season in fine form. The promise of theBlood Originprequel lays the building blocks of the series' lore and historical precedents for more casual fans to see, even to a greater extent than what readers of Sapkowski’s work got to enjoy. That, paired withCD Projekt Red’s recent announcements forThe Witcher 4and more games in the not-so-near future will certainly boost the franchise’s mainstream appeal.The Witcheris one of Netflix’s heavy hitters, so it’s plausible that Hissrich and Cavil will be able to see its story last for the estimated seven season-run that they would need to flesh out the main books.
