If you do even a cursory search for articles and blog posts about Netflix’s forthcoming fantasy series The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill as monster hunter Geralt of Rivia, you’ll be confronted with at least one comparison over and over again. This buzzy new show, adapted from a series of The Witcher books, could end up doing for Netflix what Game of Thrones did for HBO, the thinking goes — and, as such, the Netflix series is repeatedly mentioned in the same breath as Thrones. That, of course, would suit all of us who were captivated by HBO’s game-changing series just fine, and definitely serve as another feather in Netflix’s cap.
But while early looks at the show certainly make it seem like this will definitely be as epic in scale as HBO’s dear, departed 8-season blockbuster about the fictional land of Westeros, one The Witcher actor actually has a request: Please stop comparing the two.
Royce Pierreson, who portrays the sorcerer Istredd in The Witcher, gave an interview to Digital Spy in which he raved that the show is “an amazing ensemble piece, and every character has their own journey and their own story.” A sentiment that extends to the point about the HBO comparison:
“The Witcher has its own world and universe and there are always going to be genre comparisons,” Pierreson continues. “But I think The Witcher has its own proper characters and their own struggles. And I think that’s what people will see and really connect with.”
The worst monsters are the ones we create. pic.twitter.com/OIJeWwCYFK
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) July 1, 2019
Netflix hasn’t announced an official release date yet for the series, but it’s definitely coming before the end of the year. However, that lack of a release date yet hasn’t stopped the groundswell of buzz, which has been building for a few months now (as we’ve noted). As a reminder, The Witcher will be a straight adaptation of the books and short stories from Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski (and not The Witcher video games) which are set in a medieval world and focused on the character of Geralt, who was trained from a young age to fight monsters as a “witcher.”
