The Witcher fans, get excited.
Series showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, just spoke to The Wrap about everything there is to know about the show’s highly-anticipated second season.
This includes the list of newcomers and the different storylines you can expect.
Lauren even discussed the controversial multiple storylines that confused fans in Season 1.
Keep reading to learn what we know so far.
When *The Witcher* was released on Netflix last December, it soon took the world by storm.
The fantasy series, which is based on the books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, was watched by 76 million households in its first month last year.
This cemented its status as Netflix’s biggest series debut in history!
A lot of this had to do with the show’s brilliant casting, which included Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, and Anya Chalotra.
The story followed monster hunter Geralt, sorceress Yennefer, and princess Ciri — although their storylines took place during different times.
Ever since Season 1 ended, fans have been salivating for news over a second season.
Well, fans won’t have to wait any longer.
This past Friday, series showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, discussed everything there is to know about The Witcher Season 2 with The Wrap .
She began by revealing that there are plenty of new faces.
This includes Killing Eve vet Kim Bodnia as Vesemir, Game of Thrones alum Kristofer Hivju as Nivellen, Yasen Atour as Coen, Agnes Born as Vereena, Paul Bullion as Lambert, Thue Ersted Rasmussen as Eskel, Aisha Fabienne Ross as Lydia, and Mecia Simson as Francesca.
“Probably my favorite additions for Season 2 are the new witchers,” Hissrich said.
“Really, in Season 1, we got to know Geralt and he’s our prime example of a witcher. And then there is one other witcher, Remus, who we meet in Episode 103, who quickly dies (laughs).”
She continued on, adding that Season 2 will have a strong emphasis on family:
“So it was, for us really, about getting Geralt back to his roots and sort of learning where he came from and what his story is and what his sense of family is.”
“For Geralt, it’s his brothers, it’s the brotherhood of the witchers,” Hissirich said.
“So I’m really excited to get back in and meet Vesemir, his father figure, for the first time and all of these men that he was raised with since he was seven years old.”
One of the biggest changes coming to Season 2 is the lack of multiple timelines.
This was one of the most frustrating parts for fans about Season 1.
They found it difficult to keep up with the series jumping around to different timelines as it followed the adventures of the three main characters, Gerlat, Yennefer, and Ciri.
“Obviously, it was one of the most controversial parts of Season 1 and I didn’t expect it to be as controversial as it was,” Hissrich said.
“But it’s something I still stand behind, in terms of storytelling,” adding that the “goal was to get to know each of these characters individually, and the only want to do that was to separate their timelines.”
Since the characters’ storylines have intersected, fans can expect to see them existing on the same timeline.
“What that allows us to do storywise though is to play with time in slightly different ways. We get to do flashbacks, we get to do flash-forwards, we get to actually integrate time in a completely different way that we weren’t able to do in Season 1.”
So when will filming for Season 2 take place?
It’s sooner than you think!
If you remember, production began in February but was quickly put on hold when the effects of the coronavirus pandemic began to affect the world.
Series newcomer Kristofer Hivju even tested positive for the coronavirus in March.
But now, thanks to a report listed by industry database Production Weekly via Redanian Intelligence, it looks like the cast and crew will resume filming Season 2 on the third of August.
Bob Terry, the managing director of Arborfield Studios where the series films, even confirmed this to *Deadline*.
He said that meetings are happening to finalize safety procedures and get everything ready for filming.
In addition to this, Lauren told The Wrap about the extra steps they are taking to ensure the cast and crew stay safe.
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“It’s about personal comfort and personal safety,” she explained.
“So, the government may say it’s OK to do X or Y, but an actor may say they don’t feel comfortable doing that. And that’s always going to be our first concern.”
So far, a trailer for Season 2 hasn’t been released.
But don’t worry, that’s coming.
Now that you know all the details, tell us: are you excited for Season 2 of The Witcher ?
Let us know in the comments below!
