Netflix’s Witcher series is “a very adult show”

The Witcher is coming. The upcoming Netflix show, based off author Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy novels, is one of the most interesting contenders in Hollywood’s ongoing attempt to replace the hole left behind by the juggernaut that is Game of Thrones. And like that show, The Witcher will be “very adult,” according to showrunner Lauren Hissrich. “I will add it was important to me that any violence or sex drives the story and is not there just for shock value,” Hissrich told Entertainment Weekly. “I think audiences are really savvy and know when we’re doing stuff to just shock them versus do stuff that really drives the story.””

Of course, The Witcher is more than just a Game of Thrones also-ran. Sapkowski actually started writing stories set in this fantasy world years before A Game of Thrones hit store shelves, and it’s as well-developed as anything in the genre.

One thing that The Witcher will offer that we haven’t seen much of: lots and lots of monsters. The story revolves around a character named Geralt of Rivia, the titular witcher. “Geralt’s a monster hunter so from the very beginning we talked about how to show these monsters and the humans they interact with,” Hissrich said. “I think people are going to be surprised by how many monsters we were able to do and how integral they are to story. It really feels like the monster stories become analogs for bigger things happening in the world right now in different political phenomenons.”

But at the end of the day, any good series has to survive on characters, and The Witcher has some good ones. Rereading the books in preparation for the show, Hissrich was attracted to the central trio of Geralt, Yennefer — his on-again, off-again sorceress love interest — and Ciri, his protégé in the ways of the witcher. “If you take all the other fantasy elements away, you take the magic and story and violence and sex away, you still have three characters who are this broken disjointed family who really need each other even though they don’t want to admit it,” Hissrich said. “And that was one of the most appealing things to me.”

"I really love the idea of taking this series of novels that fans already love with and bringing them to a new audience. There’s also fun in exploring what happens between the pages of the books. The books explore events over a long period of time but there’s also story they skip through — Yennefer. for instance, some of the more defining moments of her life, we hear about them in flashback. We got to explore them in real time. It’s exciting to take Andrzej’s work and bring it to life."

Yennefer is a scene-stealer in the books, a proud and powerful woman so confident she can border on mean. More attention paid to her is definitely a point in the show’s favor. She’ll be played by Anya Chalotra in the books.

If Chalotra is destined to steal the show, Henry Cavill will have to anchor it as Geralt. Cavill is famously a bit of a dork who actually lobbed for the part, as Hissrich recalls:

"Henry is a huge fan of this property. He’s read all of the books. He’s played all the games. I met him at the very beginning of the process. He said, “I would love to play this character.” I said, “Henry, you’re amazing, but we haven’t even started thinking about casting yet.” Then I met 207 other possible Geralts. And I came back to Henry at the end. He was my very first meeting and four months later I called him and asked if he was still interested and he was. The first time I met him I hadn’t even started writing the scripts yet. And once I started writing I couldn’t get Henry’s voice out of my head for the character. Looking at the final product, it’s really exciting. He embodies Geralt in a way that I don’t think anybody else could."

More than likely, Cavill became familiar with the character by playing the very successful video games from CD Projekt Red, but where the video games are actually set after the events of the books, Hissrich’s show will stick closer to the text. “They went one direction, we actually get to go another.”

So then what will the first season cover? Odds are it’ll adapt material from The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, the first two books in the series. They’re unique, so far as early entries in fantasy series go, because they’re both more accurately categorized as collections of interconnected short stories than novels — the “Witcher saga” proper doesn’t really get started until the next book, Blood of Elves. We can’t be sure, but based on behind-the-scenes photos, it looks like the first season of the show will adapt the story “The Bounds of Reason,” which involves the hunt for a dragon. We’ll also probably see the Battle of Sodden, a key event in the mythology that happens largely “offscreen” in the books, and if Ciri (Freya Allan) is in this season, obviously the show will adapt the story where she and Geralt meet, at a minimum.

Also, look out for moral ambiguity. “There isn’t really a villain,” Hissrich said. “One of the things we’re enjoying exploring is all the shades of grey in the books. The characters you’re rooting for in the beginning may not be the characters you’re rooting for in the end. And characters you hate and seem absolutely evil are motivated by something that’s really relatable and human and emotional. I found writing it and then watching it afterward that your allegiance switches a lot. You constantly try to put yourself in the shoes of characters and think what would you do [in a situation]. I think you’ll end up having a lot of empathy for characters you didn’t expect to.”

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There’s a proper Witcher panel at San Diego Comic-Con tomorrow. Will we see a trailer then? Who knows? Until then, bone up on the series with our beginner’s guide!

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