Way back in January last year, we reported that Netflix had even more content on the way based on The Witcher universe, inspired by the novels of Andrzej Sapkowski. We’ve heard almost nothing about it since then, but now Netflix has revealed that the animation – which is called The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf – will take centre stage in the streaming platform’s line-up of upcoming ‘anime’.
Variety reports that Netflix has outlined a selection of original animated projects it’s got coming up during a panel at this year’s Annecy Film Festival, with The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf leading the pack (pardon the pun). As we already knew, this animation will centre not on the most famous witcher of all, Geralt of Rivia, but instead his seasoned mentor Vesemir, who appears in both the first and third Witcher RPG games.
New details reveal that the plot will focus on the Wolf School witcher as younger man, who will have to confront a crisis of conscience when some kind of power poses a threat to his world, the Continent. He’ll have to take a long, hard look at what he does for a living and why he does it.
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who was also creator, showrunner, and executive producer of Netflix’s already very famous live-action show The Witcher, will be resuming showrunning duties on NotW, as well as co-executive producing it. Kwang Il Han, who was animation director and a key animator on The Last Airbender animated series, will be directing this new project. As for who’s, well, animating the animation, Variety reveals that it’ll be Studio Mir – the creator behind the Dota 2-inspired show Dota: Dragon’s Blood – taking this on.
Destiny awaits the Lion Cub of Cintra in Season 2… ⚔️ #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/c2MEZohrpu
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) June 11, 2021
It’s not clear what specific plot points we’ll see in the animation, but Hissrich did share some tit-bits giving us a flavour of its overall themes. “There are things I wanted to know about, what it takes to become a witcher, how Geralt became a witcher, where his journey started and who was important to him,” Hissrich says. Variety also reports that the anime will explore how events transpired to mean that witchers and mages now don’t get along, where they once had a collaborative relationship.
“It’s gonna give fans that are familiar with the series a totally unique experience that I hope makes them feel like they’re coming to ‘The Witcher’ for the first time again,” says scriptwriter Beau DeMayo.
A pairing more powerful than silver and steel: @Netflix and @CDPROJEKTRED are so excited to celebrate our Witcher family and bring you the very first #WitcherCon on July 9! Stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks! #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/6wxsW9ZH26
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) June 11, 2021
The Netflix plot synopsis is as follows: “Long before mentoring Geralt, Vesemir begins his own journey as a witcher after the mysterious Deglan claims him through the Law of Surprise.”
Related: What we know about The Witcher season two release date
For now, we’ve got The Witcher season two on the way to look forward to, with filming having wrapped back in April. There’s no release date on that just yet, but while you wait you can read my thoughts on what a Witcher 1 remake might look life it one ever materialised.