If “The Witcher” showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich gets her way, the Netflix series will continue until they’ve finished adapting all of author Andrzej Sapkowski’s books.
TheWrap recently caught up with Hissrich to discuss her work on Season 2 of the fan-favorite Netflix fantasy series, and she affirmed her hope to tell the complete story of “The Witcher” within the confines of the show. Which means there are likely at least three more seasons to come.
“The Witcher” is based on Sapkowski’s book series, which itself was adapted into a series of video games. The first season was, of course, a test balloon of sorts, but as soon as it was clear that Netflix subscribers were flocking to the Henry Cavill-led series, the streaming service announced ambitious plans to continue the show. Season 2 was greenlit, but Hissrich also began working on an anime prequel film called “The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf” and a live-action prequel series called “The Witcher: Blood Origin,” the latter of which debuts in 2022.
So how many seasons will “The Witcher” have? Hissrich says as many as it takes. “I have always said that I want to end our stories at the same place that Andrzej Sapkowski ended his,” the executive producer and showrunner affirmed. “I just don’t feel the need for us to keep creating stories after his intentional end. The funny thing is, of course, since we have been working on the series, he’s actually released two new books. We’re trying to be a little flexible with it.”
There are five “The Witcher” books in total, and so far each season has primarily adapted one book, so that would suggest a total of five seasons. Although, as Hissrich points out, Sapkowski has published additional material, so flexibility is key.
Hissrich doesn’t have any plans to step back from the series either, but did add that the spinoffs allow more of that flexibility in terms of storytelling. “I’ve always said that I will write the show as long as there is an interest in the show. Right now, that interest seems to be great. But some of that also is through some of the additional universe that we’re expanding. So through the anime films, or through the spinoff that just finished production, those are ways for us to continue telling Sapkowski’s stories without taking the attention away from the main storytelling of the mothership.”
Netflix greenlit Season 3 of “The Witcher” before Season 2 was released, and while Hissrich didn’t get too deep into specifics, she did confirm “The Witcher” Season 3 is primarily based on the book “Time of Contempt” and will take place on a compressed timeline.
“You know, basically our seasons as a whole are really guided by the stories that we want to tell,” Hissrich said. “So structure is a great example. In Season 2, there wasn’t a reason to do non-linear storylines. So we took a very linear approach, which allowed us to play with some different aspects of visions or flashbacks, for instance, that we wouldn’t be able to do if we were doing timelines. Season 3, I think is really great. It’s based on the ‘Time of Contempt,’ and that actually to me is a very easily adaptable book. There’s tons of action, there’s tons of things that are just jaw dropping when you get to them. So we’re really letting that lead our storytelling. Season 3, for instance takes place on a very, very small timeline. Not a lot of time passes, because it doesn’t need to.”
“The Witcher” Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix. If you missed them, check out our interviews with Freya Allan and Kristofer Hivju & Kim Bodnia related to the new season.
