Declan De Barra, the creator of The Witcher: Blood Origin, has made a suggestion that there may be other Witcher spinoffs in the future set in the ever-expanding Netflix universe. The Witcher: Blood Origin follows the circumstances that lead to the creation of the first Witcher and the world-changing Conjunction of the Spheres, 1,200 years before the main series of events. The series, which debuted on Netflix on Christmas Day, stars Joey Batey as the beloved bard Jaskier in addition to Sophia Brown, Michelle Yeoh, and Minnie Driver.
After the animated movie, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf from 2021, this most recent four-episode miniseries is the second to be set in the world of The Witcher. With so many sources at their disposal, De Barra recently suggested that there may be even more Witcher offshoot events. The showrunner lauded the original writer Andrzej Sapkowski as “the master of the closed-ended narrative” and the intricate weave of his fantastical universe in an interview with RadioTimes.com. Additionally, he discussed the benefits of producing the different standalone spinoffs set in his universe, saying that they “paint another aspect to this world and spread it beyond.” See his full remarks below:
Sapkowski is the king of the closed ended story, the more we read of his books, the broader the tapestry of the world. So that’s the advantage of doing all these – they might be standalone pieces, but they paint another side to this world and expand it outward. That’s the fun part.
What lies ahead for the Witcher Universe?
Fans of the series are eagerly anticipating Henry Cavill’s final performance as Geralt of Rivia before passing the torch to Liam Hemsworth for season 4 of The Witcher, which is currently streaming on Netflix. Netflix has stated that The Witcher season 3 will be released sometime in the summer of 2023, despite there being no official release date as of yet. The new season will give Cavill “the most heroic send-off that we possibly have,” according to the main series creator Lauren S. Hissrich.
While it’s unclear how popular The Witcher will stay when Hemsworth takes on the role of Geralt, Netflix still seems determined to increase its commitment to the expanding property. Following The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, the streamer revealed plans for a second animated film as well as a new family-friendly series set in the same universe during the TUDUM fan event last year. However, since they were originally revealed more than a year ago, neither project has provided many new specifics.
Along with these formal declarations, there have also been whispers that a new spinoff series will center on the band of misfits and crooks from Nilfgaard known as The Rats. The Rats appear in Ciri’s tale in Sapkowski’s books as she briefly joins their ranks, and it has already been confirmed that The Rats will appear in The Witcher season 3. Regardless of what lies ahead for The Witcher’s many spinoff initiatives, it doesn’t appear probable that The Witcher: Blood Origin will be the final independent work to be set in the Continent’s universe.