The post-Game of Thrones wave of fantasy shows is about to crest, starting with Netflix’s adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels. Today, showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich dropped a mess of official images on her Twitter account, including the poster! Let’s take a look.
Not a bad poster! “The worst monsters are the ones we create.” Not a bad tagilne! The show’s off to a strong start.
UPDATE: Here’s a new version of the poster…WITH MOVING WATER!
The worst monsters are the ones we create. pic.twitter.com/OIJeWwCYFK
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) July 1, 2019
Well, now I’m definitely in.
For those unfamiliar, The Witcher takes place on the Continent, a fantasy world complete with elves, dwarves, warring kingdoms of humans, and witchers, professional monster hunters who roam the land in search of work.
The witcher of the title is Geralt of Rivia, played by Henry “I used to be Superman” Cavill. We got our first look at him in costume way back in October of 2018:
That look didn’t go over so well, but I think most fans will agree that the finished produce looks better:
I’m enjoying Hissrich’s descriptions of the characters:
"GERALT IS: Stoic. Circumspect. Balanced. Fierce. Soft-and-squishy-in-a-tiny-place-in-his-heart-that-he’ll-never-reveal-until-maybe-the-end-and-even-then-it-will-just-be-a-hint-AND-yes-he-only-carries-one-sword-until-wait-for-it…"
We also have some shots of Freya Allan as Ciri, a wayward princess of Cintra and Geralt’s protégé in the witching profession. A lot of the plot turns on her:
Tell us about her, Lauren S. Hissrich:
"CIRI IS: Resilient. Relentless. Brazen. Growing. Going-to-change-the-world-and-what-the-hell-is-she-supposed-to-do-except-be-scared-&-bold-&-learn-&-adapt-&-find-a-family-who-can-walk-by-her-side-no-matter-what-and-maybe-just-maybe-teach-her-the-meaning-of-love."
And finally, we have Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, Geralt’s on-again, off-again sorceress love interest:
Per Hissrich, Yennefer is:
"YENNEFER IS: Fiery. Proud. Shrewd. Contradictory. Seeking-to-fill-a-family-sized-hole-in-her-heart-even-though-she-resents-it-&-swears-she’s-just-fine-on-her-own-but-she-is-not-and-we-love-her-for-being-both-independent-and-vulnerable."
In the novels, Yennefer is steely bordering on unkind, a force to be reckoned with. I’m raising my eyebrow a bit at casting the 23-year-old Chalotra to play opposite the 36-year-old Cavill, but I suppose I’ll reserve judgment until I see them in action.
There are, of course, many other characters — the Witcher series is as expansive as any fantasy epic — but these three are the biggees, with maybe the rakish bard Dandelion making it a foursome. He’ll be played by Joey Batey in the Netflix series, and going by the name “Jaskier.”
There’s also an official logo that’s giving me strong house-sigil-from-Game-of-Thrones vibes:
According to Deadline, Netflix is bringing The Witcher to San Deigo Comic-Con 2019, along with its adaptation of The Dark Crystal. With the show debuting later this year, I’m betting we get a proper trailer there.
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So far, I think the show it looking good! And I’m happy that Hissrich is clearly passionate about what she’s making. Chalotra seems a tad young to play Yennefer but I can get over that if the performance is good (Yennefer is older than she looks in the books). The books are solid works of fantasy fiction, so if Netflix put together the right team an adaptation could be something special.
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