Netflix’sThe Witcheris enduring a tough time after it was revealed that series star Henry Cavill would be stepping away from the role of Geralt. However, showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich wants fans to know they’re very much aware of what that means.
Ever since the streaming giant first announcedThe Witcher, Hissrich has been particularly communicative about where the show is headed or what drives some of the creative decisions and changes behind this adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels. And while it may be true thatThe Witcherfandom and Hissrich haven’t always seen eye to eye, she’s always taken such criticism with a sufficiently open mind, even hosting AMA sessions on Twitter from time to time.
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Now Hissrich wants to take a step back to ask those same fans to “please come back forThe Witcherseason three so that we can continue to do this.” She toldTechRadarthat Cavill’s loss is also “a big deal for us, too.” Specifically, she acknowledged that “there’s a lot of talk and rumors about and we fully understand why fans are going there.” Nonetheless, Hissrich did not comment further on the matter, instead preferring to divert attention to the upcoming release ofThe Witcher: Blood Originprequel that’s coming out during the holidays.
Hissrich admits Cavill not being inThe Witcherfrom season 4 onwards is “huge news." However, she wanted to focus onThe Witcherprequel for the time being. “This has to stay about Blood Origin, Declan [de Barra], the cast, and the crew. This is their time in the spotlight,” she said, which doesn’t touch upon the big White Wolf in the room the main show has to deal with. Hissrich is credited as both co-creator and executive producer. She also occupied the latter role in theNightmare of the Wolfanimated film.
Nightmare of the Wolfwas another piece of originalWitchercontent from Netflix, although that movie was written by Beau DeMayo, who left the series as one of the most vocal critics of the creative process behind it, saying many ofThe Witcherwriters outright mock Sapkowski’s source material. Those comments resonated withWitcherfans, who brought up Cavill’s statements about staying loyal to the novels as his main demand to stay committed to the series, with an ongoing fan petition to fireThe Witchersshowrunners and keep Cavill going viral online.
Overall, Hissrich recognizesThe Witcherhas a Henry Cavill-shaped problem, but rather than focus on that or his replacement, Liam Hemsworth, she’d prefer forBlood Originto be the main talking point for now. Viewers will likely never know whether it was creative differences, Superman,or a mix of both that prompted Cavill to call it quits, at least for now, so Hissrich could be right in trying to keep some momentum going for theWitcherfranchise.
The Witcherseason 3 is scheduled to premiere on Netflix in the summer of 2023.
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