Who’s ready for another blast of monsters, magic, and murky politics? The Witcher is readying its long-awaited third season, coming soon to Netflix – and there are plenty of eyes on this one. Not only does it continue one of the streaming service’s biggest series, but it arrives in the wake of news that it’ll be Henry Cavill’s final season playing Geralt Of Rivia, the role due to be played by Liam Hemsworth from Season 4 onwards. Plus, in-universe, it finally unites the central trio of Geralt, sorcerer Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and warrior-kid Ciri (Freya Allan) properly for the first time, after spending two whole seasons getting them together. And by the sounds of things, it’ll have an even bigger draw for fans of Andrzej Sapkowski’s source material – watch that being discussed in a new featurette.
As showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich states: “Season 3 is mostly based on the Time Of Contempt.” That’s a phrase that’ll mean a lot to Witcher novel fans, being the name of Sapkowski’s second book. “Not only are the stories really fun and epic – I think it has some real fan-favourite moments,” she teases. Add executive producer Tomek Baginski: “I think this season is very, very close to the books.”
As for our central characters, they’re as under threat as ever – not just with war threatening to bubble over and monsters on their tail, but with whispers of the Wild Hunt brewing and all kinds of nefarious forces after them. “Now they’re out in the wild,” teases Cavill. “There’s people out there hunting Ciri. They are exposed.” Plus, the series will see Geralt trying to get Ciri ready for what’s coming. “He wants to train his adopted daughter to be as good as he is,” he says, noting a shift to his character. “You get to see a deeper side to Geralt. I got to inject a bit more intellect, and a bit more thoughtfulness.”
It sounds like it’ll be an eventful third run (and final outing for Cavill). “All the fans will know where the books are heading,” says Chalotra. “And those who don’t, it’s a real shock.” Keep those magic potions handy, Geralt. The first batch of The Witcher Season 3 episodes will arrive on 29 June, with the second volume coming a month later on 27 July.