Netflix Totally Ignored The Witcher’s Creator While Ruining His Franchise
Netflix’s The Witcher series has no doubt been popular, but it has also been polarizing from the start due to the creators playing fast and loose with the source material. We now know the show’s creators didn’t even listen to the author of the books (Andrzej Sapkowski) that the video games and series were adapted from.
Speaking at a recent interview at Vienna Comic Con, Sapkowski revealed that he was invited to set but that they didn’t really take his creative input into account at all, saying, “I gave them some ideas but they never listened to me,” humorously adding, “It’s normal.”
Sapkowski was also asked what he thinks about the various adaptations of The Witcher, to which he replied, “every adaptation that I saw was strange for me…sometimes it’s very nice for me…sometimes it isn’t,” mentioning that he didn’t feel like elaborating on it further.
“I gave them some ideas but they never listened to me”
It makes sense that Sapkowski may be fairly indifferent about the various adaptations of his work, considering he’s plenty busy continuing to build out the lore of the franchise in its original medium. Sapkowsku revealed that he is actively working on another book for the series and that it is set for a winter release.
To anyone who has watched the initial few seasons of Netflix’s The Witcher series, Sapkowski’s comments will come as no surprise. Rumors abound that the writing team of the series reportedly didn’t care for the source material, which is something that star Henry Cavill allegedly took umbrage with. It’s possible that these creative differences are what led to Cavill exiting the show and giving his final portrayal of Geralt of Rivia in the recent two-part third season.
Henry Cavill is a noted fan of The Witcher video game series and Sapkowski’s books and made it clear in multiple interviews that he wanted the show to stay faithful to the source material. While the show would broadly follow the events of the video games, fans certainly felt it was lacking in a lot of areas, and the quality of the show would frequently rollercoaster from highs to lows. While Cavill leaving was something that upset fans, considering he was the perfect live-action Geralt, it wasn’t necessarily surprising given the rumors.
Netflix clearly believes in the popularity of The Witcher franchise, though, considering it’s continuing the show after Cavill’s exit with Liam Hemsworth taking over the role of Geralt. The franchise also had the recent spin-off Blood Origin, which was not well-received by fans or critics. However, fans still have hope for the series as projects like the animated film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf prove that there is potential for quality Witcher Netflix adaptations.
Along with the upcoming seasons of The Witcher with Liam Hemsworth, Netflix has a prequel spin-off and another animated film in the works for the franchise. So clearly, they’re not ready to let this IP go just let. Hopefully, future creators of the upcoming shows will take the original author’s advice or at least stick a little closer to the source material this time around.
