The Witcher - Netflix **Spoilers**

Mickeroo

Netflix have announced they'll be doing a TV show of The Witcher series: http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/05/17/netflix-to-produce-the-witcher-tv-series

For those not in the know it's a popular series of Polish fantasy books that gained fame off the back of their very popular and brilliantly realised video game adaptations.

I love the games so have very high hopes for this.

Here's a trailer from the third game to give you an idea of what it's like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0i88t0Kacs

danmanw8

Mickeroo wrote: »

Netflix have announced they'll be doing a TV show of The Witcher series: http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/05/17/netflix-to-produce-the-witcher-tv-series

For those not in the know it's a popular series of Polish fantasy books that gained fame off the back of their very popular and brilliantly realised video game adaptations.

I love the games so have very high hopes for this.

Here's a trailer from the third game to give you an idea of what it's like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0i88t0Kacs

I hope the music in it is as good as the game, it's fantastic.

andala

So looking forward to it. There was a Polish film based on Sapkowski's books a few years ago but it wasn't really good unfortunately. Geralt was hot though. Hopefully big money will make the Netflix version great

TerrorFirmer

andala wrote: »

So looking forward to it. There was a Polish film based on Sapkowski's books a few years ago but it wasn't really good unfortunately. Geralt was hot though. Hopefully big money will make the Netflix version great

That was actually a TV show as well! I think they just also put together a movie from scraps of the show.

Also...is that Ian McShane narrating in that trailer?

Skerries

that's what I thought as well, was it Vesemir?

Gbear

They've finished the, I dunno, first draft, or whatever, of the pilot.

“The Witcher pilot is out for notes, and I’m out for the weekend to spend some time with my kids,” Hissirch wrote. “See you bright and early on Monday!”

http://morningstocknews.com/netflixs-witcher-tv-show-hits-another-milestone/

The likes of Sapkowski are apparently going to have a look through it before it gets finalised.

It's probably ages away yet but there's always a worry with these things about them getting stuck in limbo for years and it's good to see that that's not the case.

duridian

Gbear wrote: »

It's probably ages away yet but there's always a worry with these things about them getting stuck in limbo for years and it's good to see that that's not the case.

George R.R. Martin is the master of limbo. (Which is probably not something you hear said very often about a fat 69 y.o. neckbeard. )

I tried watching the Polish tv series about 10 years ago but the only English subs available were borderline gibberish so I gave up after about 2 episodes.

Hopefully Netflix will deliver on this. The world of the Witcher is up there with Tolkien and GRRM's Ice & Fire in my opinion, and deserves to get the full force of the likes of Netflix behind it.

Gbear

The one failing in the Witcher books is the dialogue (although I still find it charmingly weird). This won't have to be dodgily translated from Polish so hopefully they can capture the tone of the books but using better actual words to convey it.

I think Geralt is a hard casting job. It'll be tricky trying to get a guy to convey a sense of personality that's that dry, and can also be an action hero.

I do wonder about accents. It's always jarred a little that a few of the accents were American in the games. I wonder will they go straight down the usual route of all British and Irish.

Potential-Monke

They would be mad not not have English and Irish cast, shur Skellige is basically Ireland/Scotland, Velen is the UK... Will all depend on where they set it of course. But they have to get the Skellige crowd right, anything other than a combination of Irish/Scottish just won't do.

GottaGetGatt

I've a feeling Zach McGowan might be in for the lead role. Some of his twitter activity might suggest it but then again he more likely having the craic with followers. He was excellent in Black Sails

https://twitter.com/zach_mcgowan/status/954875780634300416

Gbear

Looks the part at any rate.

ixoy

That would be perfect casting. Right age, general physique, deep voice and can wield a sword already.

duridian

Zach has a bit of experience from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 doing Eastern European accent, if they go with that as the choice for a Rivian accent. I think he’d be good as Gerald. I reckon he can look suitably tough and craggy, like someone who’s been fighting and consuming the strange alchemical concoctions used by Witcher’s.

Now, who do you reckon would make a good Triss to go with his Geralt?

martyos121

I was thinking Kelly Reilly as Triss but she’s possibly a little too old for it to happen. Jack O’Connell as Dandelion would be a really interesting choice though IMO, he has the charm to pull it off perfectly and I’ve not seen anyone rumoured for that role yet.

duridian

Kelly carries her years well though. I was surprised to learn she is 40. Thought she looked younger in Britannia.

What about Rachel LeFevre as Triss?

There were some on reddit saying David Tennant might be good as Dandelion.

Gbear

duridian wrote: »

Kelly carries her years well though. I was surprised to learn she is 40. Thought she looked younger in Britannia.

What about Rachel LeFevre as Triss?

There were some on reddit saying David Tennant might be good as Dandelion.

Of course, if she's 40 now, it'll be more like 46 by the end of the series.
A bit more mature could well work for Yennefer I think, but there needs to be a girlish quality to Triss.

Looks wish I think Karen Gillan would have the impish sort of beauty I'd be thinking of. You just need to find someone less well known. Probably not the kind of name that could be attracted.

Tennant would be good alright, and he's shown he's happy to try his hand at all sorts of stuff.

There's a batch of genre mainstays like Ian McShane, Ciaran Hinds, James Purefoy and loads of other of the likes that pop up in these things that you'd imagine will crop up at some stage.

duridian

Gbear wrote: »

Of course, if she's 40 now, it'll be more like 46 by the end of the series.
A bit more mature could well work for Yennefer I think, but there needs to be a girlish quality to Triss.

Looks wish I think Karen Gillan would have the impish sort of beauty I'd be thinking of. You just need to find someone less well known. Probably not the kind of name that could be attracted.

Tennant would be good alright, and he's shown he's happy to try his hand at all sorts of stuff.

There's a batch of genre mainstays like Ian McShane, Ciaran Hinds, James Purefoy and loads of other of the likes that pop up in these things that you'd imagine will crop up at some stage.

Yeah, Karen would be very suitable, but likely she's far too in demand now, and Marvel etc. will keep her very occupied for the next few years at least.

I'd love to see Carice van Houten in this as well, if she is finished filming her role in the final season of Thrones on time. (Not as Triss. Maybe Yennefer or some other.)

martyos121

I’d be shocked if Sean Bean doesn’t have some sort of part in this too. It’s a running joke that he’s in (and also killed off in) pretty much everything along these lines. He should play

Vesemir.

:pac:

nix

I guess the tier of casting will depend on the allocated budget, will netflix splash out or spare expense? any news on that yet?

And eh Christina Hendricks for Triss and Jason Schwartzman for Dandelion plz

:pac:

Skerries

There will be 8 episodes filmed in Poland covering the first 2 books and will air in 2020

Gbear

They're starting off with Sword of Destiny and The Last Wish.

It'll be interesting to see how they lay out the story, because if they just did the first book and then the second, there wouldn't really be much of plot thread, and the final story in the Last Wish is a bit of a short one and not that dramatic.
All the stories are also wildly out of chronological order - the earliest of which takes place maybe 10-12 years before the one that leads into the saga proper, in Blood of Elves.

I'll spoiler it for anyone who hasn't read them, but I'll only be glossing over the story and won't really be giving away anything.

There's a framing story of Geralt in the present in the Last Wish, getting some r&r at a temple, whose high priestess he has a good relationship with.
They could frame the stories from both books within that, and then tell the stories chronologically, with a bit of wordbuilding and character set ups in anthological type episodes, but the main plot thread that's wrapped up in Sword of Destiny being the finale.

Then that'd lead straight into Blood of Elves for a potential season 2, although if it got cancelled, it'd represent a satisfying, self-contained story in its own right.

I just saw what i assume is someone's wishlist on imdb for this with eva green as yenn. Would be perfect right?

martyos121

bluewolf wrote: »

I just saw what i assume is someone's wishlist on imdb for this with eva green as yenn. Would be perfect right?

Sounds like a great choice alright. I just had another thought for the role of Geralt, though he’s probably too famous for it now; Adam Driver. Has the look and all the tools for it IMO.

Skerries

The writers have begun work on the scripts

https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/8ht0ro/the_witcher_netflix_series_opened_its_writers/?st=jgxtmmzk&sh=583605b0

Gbear

Henry Cavill has said he'd love to play Geralt, is a huge fan of the Witcher 3 and the books.

http://ie.ign.com/articles/2018/08/06/henry-cavill-wants-to-play-geralt-in-netflixs-adaptation-of-the-witcher

Obviously doesn't mean anything in terms of actual casting, and given his prestige, you'd imagine that they mighn't be able to afford him, although maybe he'd just be happy to be involved on a less eyewateringly large boatload of money than he's accostomed to.

If nothing else, maybe he'd get a cameo or a single season supporting role.

He's well used to getting shredded for movie roles and I'm sure they could ugly him up with a wig and some scars well enough to pass for Geralt. It'd be a huge coup and might really get the series off the ground to have a name like his associated.

Skerries

someone has done a mock up of what he would look like

Mr E

Henry Cavill just got the gig.

http://ie.ign.com/articles/2018/09/04/netflixs-the-witcher-casts-henry-cavill-as-geralt

Gbear

I'm absolutely fine with that.

The Witcher's funny: it has a sort of Shakepearean quality to it at times with somewhat pretentious monologues and some of the characters are a bit supercilious, so if they keep to that and have slightly stilted dialogue then I think the writing will be a bigger factor than the performance.

I don't know what a breathtaking Geralt performance looks like, or a Yennefer one. I feel like a lot of the colour will be added by the supporting cast, and by Ciri - kid Ciri will perhaps be the most crucial, because if you don't give a **** about her, then what's the point?

Hmm. I'm getting the itch. I might read it again.

lertsnim

Will there be a unicorn?

ixoy

While I was gunning for Zach McGowan for it, it is good to get not only a big name star but one who seems genuinely interested in the source material. In fact Cavill is quite a bit of a gaming geek and I believe comic book geek too.

For the role he's a bit too pretty but they can work with that and we know that he can pull off the facial hair. He's physically strong so he can likely do a lot of his own stunt work. I think the novel is also going to focus on his earlier days so perhaps him being younger won't actually be a problem.

GottaGetGatt

Yeah I was hoping for Zach McGowan to get it myself. He was fantastic in Black Sails. Henry Cavill is a hell of a land though all the same.

Gbear

Well, things were all going a bit too smoothly...

https://www.pcgamesn.com/the-witcher-netflix-cast-ciri

The casting for Crilla, the ‘The Lion Cub of Cintra’ reads “looking for a 16 or 15 year old BAME” – that’s ‘black, Asian, and minority ethnic’ if you’re not from the UK – “girl who can play down to 13/14. Must not be older than 18 years old.” Certain corners of the internet are preemptively upset about the possibility of Ciri not being white, though there’s little justifiable reason for it – unless you’re married to the idea that Polish fantasy requires Polish ethnicity across all its fictional nations.

Naturally, the internet has lost its ****.

If it's true, they really have shot themselves in the foot here.

They can probably get away with fiddling with the appearance of any secondary character, but Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri have pretty well defined looks at this point, and the core of the audience that will give it any staying power are probably going to be the ones already invested in them, either from the books or the games.

You can argue that none of it matters, but if you start making arbitrary changes to the story, at what point do you just have to ask, why not make your own story instead of changing this one to be what you want?

I've seen some suggest that BAME might include Eastern European, which doesn't really strike me as likely, but who knows. I'll assume it's all bollocks until they confirm otherwise because it sounds too daft and too lacking in self awareness to be likely.

JP Liz V1

ixoy wrote: »

While I was gunning for Zach McGowan for it, it is good to get not only a big name star but one who seems genuinely interested in the source material. In fact Cavill is quite a bit of a gaming geek and I believe comic book geek too.

For the role he's a bit too pretty but they can work with that and we know that he can pull off the facial hair. He's physically strong so he can likely do a lot of his own stunt work. I think the novel is also going to focus on his earlier days so perhaps him being younger won't actually be a problem.

I thought Josh Holloway (Lost) would be good too

Skerries

Geralt and Ciri posted

J. Marston

Think they're trying to differentiate themselves from Game of Thrones. Medieval fantasy setting with a young, beautiful, white/silver-haired Princess of Destiny trope.

I don't agree with it just because I associate Ciri with the game's character design and it's an awesome design.

EoinMcLovin

Ciri and Yennefer have been cast

https://tvline.com/2018/10/10/the-witcher-series-casts-ciri-freya-allan/

Sudden Valley

yennefer actress looks very young but I don't know how old she is supposed to be in the books. No mention of triss??

Gbear

The casting of the other sorceresses, but not Triss is a little puzzling. Other than Yennefer, she's the first to appear, and other than Yennefer, none appear until Blood of Elves.

I wonder does that mean they're going to do some extra background story for Yennefer, showing their time together under Tissaia at Aretuza. I think she speaks of it a bit in the books, but you never see it first hand.

If Ndiweni is Fringilla, then perhaps they'll build up a rivalry there.

Chalotra maybe looks a bit girlish for Yennefer, but she's supposed to look early 20s, so it's not a big deal.
I also wonder is Freya Allan a bit old? She's supposed be ten when she first turns up.
I suppose she's quite a young 17, and if they fudge it so that she's 15 to begin with or whatever, it's grand, really. The particulars of the timeline aren't that important for her.

Presumably we'll get Duny, Dandelion, Pavetta and so on at a later date.

I do wonder, will they include all the short stories, will they stick to the Yennefer and Ciri-centric ones, or are they writing mostly new material.

They're clearly including "A Lesser Evil" with Renfri being cast, as well as "A Question of Price" introducing Calanthe and Ciri's plotline, and presumably "The Last Wish". From the second collection, they're almost certainly including "The Sword of Destiny" and "Something More". I wonder will they throw in the battle of Sodden Hill or other battles with Nilfgaard for the climax of the first season.

I wonder how they're going to handle pronunciation in the show. It'd be nice if they got some Gaeilgeoirs in to handle some of the Elder speech on which it's based. It grated a bit to hear Clan Tuirseach pronounced "Tweersek".
Edit: Also, sometimes it's Welsh. Get some Cymrus in as well.

pixelburp

Official footage of Cavill as the titular Witcher:

https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1057640842201055232

Gbear

Some more casting.

I don't think I recognise any of them, but Lars is Mads brother and Anna Shaffer was Romilda Vane in one of the Harry Potter films. She doesn't look much like the pale ginger Triss, but that doesn't really matter terribly.

Cavill looks alright. Probably more tweaking and post production to go yet.

nix

All fairly unknown and meh except for Lars Mikkelsen, he was great in Sherlock and house of cards.

Triss casting is terrible, they pretty much casted the total opposite to what she looks like, at least shes not a man i guess? :pac:

J. Marston

Don't see what's wrong with Triss. Cavill is wearing a wig, she can too.

nix

J. Marston wrote: »

Don't see what's wrong with Triss. Cavill is wearing a wig, she can too.

Well Cavill is pale filling a Pale character, Shaffer is mixed race filling a pale ginger role. I'm all for diversity, they changed Yennefers look to tick that box, but tis a bit silly to be doing it on Triss also :(

FreudianSlippers

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

I thought Josh Holloway (Lost) would be good too

I think he's just an awful actor.

Gbear

Triss is only ginger in the games. Not sure the books mention her skin, but her hair is described as chestnut.

nix

The colour of "roasted chestnuts" it was, which can be anything from light brown to kinda how her hair looks in the game depending on the light

But yeah, id rather they went mildly accurate instead of altering a lot just to tick off the racial diversity box

Agent Coulson

Production has wrapped on the season.

Netflix is aiming to release the eight-episode first season sometime in 2020.

https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/1071811-witcher-series-wraps-production?fbclid=IwAR2xjPr5FhlHXmYICulVU8mvDUBnlwstpZ2HPoHbdo_Y4jXhShRW0-SxCUc

Mr E

https://twitter.com/seewhatsnext/status/1145693837676797952

J. Marston

Cavill looks the part. The armour looks great. Although my Geralt always had a beard in-game!

I don't know. Cavill looks like a Jackson/Tolkein buff elf. He does not look weary enough.

Saying that I like Cavill so appearance won't put me off TBH

ixoy

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know. Cavill looks like a Jackson/Tolkein buff elf. He does not look weary enough.

Isn't this a younger Geralt though? So he wouldn't yet be weary. Looks good with that in mind.