It’s a wonderful time to be a The Witcher fan for the universe keeps on expanding exponentially. After the original Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich-directed The Witcher series on Netflix, the universe received an animated prequel, called The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, which recorded the escapades of Vesemir, Geralt of Rivia’s mentor. While The Witcher focused on Geralt, Princess Ciri and Yennefer of Vengeberg through the two seasons, the third and fourth seasons are underway. To top it off, a six-part prequel series titled The Witcher: Blood Origin has been announced, much to the delight of fans.
Set centuries before Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia defeats monsters in a world where witchers are considered abominable, The Witcher: Blood Origin will record “the calamitous event that merged the worlds of monster and men”.
According to a behind-the-scenes video, the showrunner Declan de Barra gives an intimate insight into the locations. From the monsters and ghouls to the beasts, the production team has put in an indefatigable effort to bring the Witcherverse to existence. He constantly expresses his gratitude towards the talented people on the sets for bringing his ideas to life. He also let slip a major detail about the show- it will be completely set underwater.
Here is everything we know about The Witcher: Blood Origin:
Everything we know about Netflix’s ‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’
When will The Witcher: Blood Origin be released on Netflix?
Given its production status, the series should be released by December 2022 or by the beginning of 2023.
When is The Witcher: Blood Origin set in The Witcher timeline?
Since The Witcher: Blood Origin is a prequel series, it is set 1200 years before the audience members get to experience the escapades of the intense and brooding Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher. Set on the Continent thousands of years before the events of the main series, it brings together the two most important events in the Witcher universe, namely the infusion of the worlds of the humans, monsters and elves into one, also called The Conjunction of the Spheres and the historic creation of the first-ever Witcher.
Being an episodic series, there will be some major time skips between the six episodes as they tell a different story in every episode. Since the first Witcher was created 967 years after the Conjunction by the mages, fans are divided over whether it will actually focus on the creation of the first Witcher or the first proto-witcher aka Fjall.
What will be the plot of the Witcher: Blood Origin?
The Witcher: Blood Origin will probably rely heavily on Andrzej Spakowski’s Witcher lore to dissect the legendary events while including events that precede the original creator’s novels. The creation of the first Witcher is a mysterious event that took place after the monsters appeared on the Continent. Tired of the chaotic havoc and destruction, a group of rebellious mages assemble to forge a deadly weapon to battle darkness and chaos which led to the creation of the Witcher.
Who are the cast members in The Witcher: Blood Origin?
The Witcher: Blood Origin has a massive ensemble cast, most of which have been announced gradually.
In November, The Witcher: Blood Origin was looking to cast female leads, named Eile ‘The Lark’ Lithe and Princess Merwyn. Eile comes from an Elven clan that wields knives. While Jodie Turner-Smith was originally supposed to play Eile, she was replaced by Giri/Haji actress Sophie Brown due to scheduling conflicts. Mudlarks actress Mirren Mack will be seen as Merwyn.
Vikings actor Laurence O’Fuarain will be playing Fjall Stoneheart, the “physically strong, gritty and visceral” character, hailing from an Elven clan that is a rivel to Eile’s Fjall might go on to become the Continent’s first-ever Witcher.
Jacob Collins-Levy from Young Wallander will reportedly be seen as Captain Eredin, the one popular in the CD Projekt Red games. Eredin will form the main connection between the prequel and the main series.
The rest of the cast will include:
- Michelle Yeoh as Scian
- Sir Lenny Henry as Balor
- Nathaniel Curtis as Brian
- Dylan Moran as Uthrok One-Nut
- Zach Wyatt as Syndril
- Lizzie Annis as Zacare
- Hue Novelli as Brother Dean/ Callan
- Francesca Mills as Meldof
How many episodes will there be on The Witcher: Blood Origin?
The Witcher: Blood Origin will be a six-part prequel series. The first episode is titled “Of Ballads and Bloody Blades”, giving away the likely gruesome and grim tone of the series.
Where was The Witcher: Blood Origin filmed?
The Witcher: Blood Origin was initially filmed from August 16th, 2021 to November 21st, 2021, mainly in the South of Iceland. Later, the production team moved to the United Kingdom for further filming. Most of the filming in the UK took place at Arborfield Studios near Reading.
The series re-shot several scenes in north-western London.
What do we know about the crew behind The Witcher: Blood Origin?
The Witcher: Blood Origin is being helmed by Irish showrunner and executive producer, Declan De Barra. A regular on Netflix’s The Witcher, De Barra has written the fourth episode of the first season and the first episode of season two.
He is also a very talented musician who has provided the vocals for “The Song of the White Wolf” while working closely with Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli, the composers.
De Barra has assembled a diverse team of talented writers. They include:
- Kiersten Van Horne, known for Berlin Station, Snowpiercer
- Aaron Stewart-Ahn, known for Mandy
- Tania Lotia, known for Swamp Thing, Carnival Row
- Alex Meenehan, known for Bosch, The Man in the High Castle
- Troy Dangerfield, known from Castle
- Tasha Huo, known for Black Belle
- Pooja Gupta, known for Mary Mary
Various The Witcher alum is also involved in the project. The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hssrich serves as an executive director. While The Witcher casting director Sophie Holland has conducted the casting call for Blood Origin, the production designer Andrew Laws has worked on the project. The Witcher producers Tomek Baginski, Jarek Sawko, Sean Daniel and Jason Brown are also involved with the project.