Medieval settings, huge armed conflicts, political intrigue, diabolical minds, magic, and courageous heroes. That’s what you’d expect from any fantasy movie or TV series because of what’s been done so far in the genre. And that’s what Netflix’s The Witcher will deliver too, come next Friday when the first season premieres. The streaming giant just released the final trailer for the show, which further reinforces the idea that The Witcher is really Netflix’s own version of Game of Thrones.
That’s not a bad thing for Netflix or for fans of Game of Thrones or The Witcher. In fact, if it wasn’t for the huge success of Thrones we wouldn’t probably have as many fantasy stories launching on streaming services — the list also includes Carnival Row (Amazon), His Dark Materials (HBO), and the untitled Lord of the Rings TV series (Amazon).
Netflix’s Thrones version might be the closest thing we get to a true Thrones experience, given what’s in the final trailer. And that’s not a bad thing either, even though some people close to the project might not appreciate the comparison. Take a look at the latest clip and decide for yourself.
Remove any Witcher or Netflix mentions from the trailer, and you might get the feeling that you’re watching a teaser for a future Game of Thrones season that will introduce new characters and epic battles. Jon Snow must surely be leading that charge, isn’t he? The only thing missing from it are dragons, but it’s the first thing I thought of when I saw that city on fire — “Dracaris!” This new show will have plenty of horrific monsters of its own that aren’t featured in the new clip.
Hopefully, Netflix has found a great way to tell a compelling Witcher story, as well as ways to separate it from Thrones. Thankfully, we only have a little over a week of waiting before we can finally stream it. Speaking of new Witcher clips, Netflix also posted additional clips on YouTube this week that introduce the three main characters from the upcoming TV series:
