The universe of The Witcher keeps expanding, and next in line is the anime movie The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, and while it won’t star Geralt of Rivia, it does have an important connection to the famous witcher. The fantasy genre has seen a variety of universes with their own mythologies, and one that has amassed a worldwide fanbase is The Witcher. Created by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher is a series of novels and short stories that successfully branched out to video games and were also adapted into a movie and TV show in Poland in the early 2000s.
In December 2019, an English adaptation in the shape of a TV series arrived at Netflix and quickly became one of the platform’s biggest successes. The Witcher season 1 had a non-linear narrative and followed three characters in different places and points in time, with their paths converging towards the end of the season. These characters are Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), an enhanced monster hunter and the title witcher; Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), a powerful sorceress; and Ciri (Freya Allan), the crown princess of Cintra who is discovering her powers. The Witcher is coming back with a second season in December 2021, but before that, viewers will travel years back in the animated movie The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
Nightmare of the Wolf is an anime movie and a spinoff of the main series that instead of continuing Geralt’s story goes many years back to explore the backstory of Vesemir, his mentor. Following the line of the main series, the movie will see Vesemir going against a variety of monsters and creatures as well as facing various enemies, all while exploring his origins, how he became a witcher, and more. Because Nightmare of the Wolf is set years before Geralt’s time, the famous witcher won’t appear in the movie, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a connection to him.
First off, Vesemir is Geralt’s mentor and father figure, so there’s a strong bond between them that may or may not be teased at some point in the movie (it’s unknown if a young Geralt will make a cameo or not). Vesemir witnessed the construction of Kaer Morhen, the old keep where the witchers of the School of the Wolf used to be trained, and he was claimed by the Law of Surprise by a man known as Deglan, who then took him to Kaer Morhen to be trained as a witcher. Years later, Kaer Morhen was attacked and Vesemir was one of the few who survived. Vesemir went on to train many witchers, among those Geralt, Eskel, and Lambert, these last two set to appear in The Witcher season 2, played by Basil Eidenbenz and Paul Bullion, respectively. The biggest connection to Geralt's journey, however, is that Vesemir will also appear in The Witcher season 2, played by Kim Bodnia, so fans will already know his story by the time the new batch of episodes drops.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf can answer a lot of questions not only about Vesemir’s story but also about witchers in general and their history, as he was alive during some key moments. Although Geralt is not at the front and center of the story of The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, it’s still part of his story to an extent, but most importantly, it will prepare viewers (especially those not familiar with the books and video games) for Vesemir’s introduction in The Witcher season 2.