Earlier this year, The Witcher fans got quite a shock when it was announced Liam Hemsworth would be replacing Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia. But as huge as this change may be, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich doesn’t think it will derail the momentum this show has garnered.
“You know, I will say that change is also energy,” Hissrich told Decider during a press day for the upcoming The Witcher: Blood Origin. “Change also brings about different energy. So, to us, that’s just part of continuing to roll forward into this franchise.”
Speaking about this franchise, The Witcher has become one of the most expansive ones in Netflix’s arsenal. The main series has already been renewed through Season 4, and Blood Origin will stand as a prequel miniseries that tells the story of the Continent’s first witcher. Add in the animated movie about Vesemir titled The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, the other announced animated movie, and the upcoming family-friendly animated series, and The Witcher universe has morphed into a mini empire in its own right.
When it comes to developing this universe that spans live-action, animation, documentaries, dramas, miniseries, and kid-friendly entertainment, Hissrich tries to keep in mind that this vast universe shouldn’t be limiting. “One of the things that we believe strongly — I know Declan [de Barra] believes as well — is that fantasy is actually for everyone. There have been points in time, in history, that it’s a very narrow audience. I think all of these different access points, if you will, all that does is make people fall in love with the genre more, which is what we want,” Hissrich said. “It’s interesting because could there be fatigue? I actually don’t think so. I think the stories are so vast and also so varied, and I think there’s so many different ways into the world that we could keep doing this forever and we’d never run out of stories.”
