'The Witcher' Cancellation Rumors: What We Know
An unconfirmed report claims that 'The Witcher' will end soon after Liam Hemsworth takes over the lead role from Henry Cavill.
The Witcher's time on Netflix may be coming to an end sooner than fans realized. Last month, Redanian Intelligence reported that the show will end after with Season 5, leaving just two more seasons to go. While this news hasn't been confirmed or debunked yet, it has already caused quite a stir within the fandom.
The writing team on The Witcher has reportedly just returned to work now that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike is over. We already knew that the Netflix original series had been renewed through Season 5, so the writers have plenty of work to do to get ahead of the game. However, sources close to the production claim that they are working straight through to the series finale. These anonymous insiders said that The Witcher Season 4 and Season 5 will film back to back and will wrap up this on-screen version of the story. That would leave it a bit shorter than the original novels.
So far, Netflix has not commented on these reports and there is no official confirmation – nor even a hint from the people directly involved. So far, the TV show has covered material from the first five Witcher books, omitting some material, changing some, and adding in new material here and there. However, those changes and omissions were easier in the beginning when they were adapting the three short story collections that introduced Geralt. When it comes to The Witcher Saga, they have only adapted three books, with three more to go.
For those unaware, The Witcher is based on a series of fantasy novels and stories originally written in Polish by author Andrzej Sapkowski. The short stories were published in three collections in 1990, 1992, and 1993, and were largely episodic. Sapkowski then wrote five novels called The Witcher Saga, tying in characters, events, and themes from his earlier stories. In 2013, he wrote a stand-alone novel called Season of Storms as well. The Witcher was adapted into a video game series that made it popular in the English-speaking world, so between the various translations and mediums, fans' conception of what is "canon" can vary widely.
Sapkowski's novels are available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats. The video games are available on most major platforms as well. The Netflix original series is streaming now along with two spinoffs. The Witcher Season 4 begins filming in 2024, with no release date yet.