For every riveting sword fight and majestic fireball thrown during the first season of Netflix’s The Witcher, there was a Hedgehog Man, or something else that looked perhaps a touch slapdash. Fans eager for the second season of The Witcher should be pleased to learn that Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas’ legendary visual effects studio, is contributing to the production of season two.
That doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing X-wings and TIE fighters duking it out over the forests of Nilfgaard or anything, although ILM has been key to the visuals in just about every major Star Wars film. The studio has also done work for effects-heavy non-Star Wars blockbusters including Jurassic Park, Men in Black, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Pacific Rim, and countless others.
As Redanian Intelligence reports, the studio has won a whopping 16 Academy Awards for its work in visual effects, and the range of titles and settings it’s worked on is broad – working in the grim fantasy setting of The Witcher should be no problem at all.
Production on The Witcher season 2 was temporarily halted earlier this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but it’s due to get back into full swing later this month. We’ve learned that, unlike season one, we won’t be hopping between different timelines this time out.
Part of it, sensibly enough, will focus on Ciri’s witcher training – although we’re fairly sure there’s going to be a lot more to it than that.
We’re happy to hear about ILM being brought in to contribute to the look of the show’s special effects, but if they wind up needing some help, maybe Henry Cavill can let them borrow his fancy new gaming PC.