Netflix officially renews The Witcher season 3 as part of its TUDUM event and nearly three months ahead of the premiere of season 2. Developed by showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich from Andrzej Sapkowski's novels of the same name, the plot revolves around the titular monster hunter Geralt of Rivia as he ventures through the medieval landscape known as the Continent hunting monsters and finding his destiny linked to that of Princess Ciri. Henry Cavill leads the series adaptation as Geralt alongside Frey Allen as Ciri, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, a quarter-elf sorceress who forms a romantic bond with Geral, Eamon Farren as an army commander hunting down Ciri and Joey Batey as Geralt's bard companion Jaskier.
The Witcher debuted to solid reviews from critics and audiences alike in late 2019 and became a smash hit for Netflix, becoming the second-most-watched series for the platform in 2019 in the U.S. and the largest launch by January 2020 with over 76 million views. Though season 2 had been ordered prior to its release, production didn't officially begin until early 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and was halted multiple times due to positive tests and Cavill's on-set injury. Finally wrapping this past April, The Witcher is set to return this December but Netflix has more exciting news for fans of the series.
During the show's panel in the virtual TUDUM event, developer/showrunner Hissrich officially announced that Netflix has renewed The Witcher for season 3. Hissrich also confirmed development is underway on another spin-off animated film and a kid-friendly series set in the fantasy world. Check out The Witcher Twitter account's announcement below:
Click here to see the original post
Netflix's decision to renew The Witcher for season 3 doesn't entirely come as a shock given season 1's success, but its timing certainly proves interesting. Hissrich recently opened up in a Television Critics Association press tour panel about the show's future and stated that work hadn't begun on a new chapter nor had there been any proper talks as the streamer was reportedly awaiting to see "a great season 2" before moving forward with a season 3. At the time of the TCA panel, a mere month ago, the showrunner had stated she was still racing back and forth between studios for post-production, but with a new trailer promising an exciting new chapter for the show and anticipation already high for its return, the editing work seems to have done the trick to convince Netflix to move forward with another season.
The Witcher's renewal also likely has to do with the success of the recently released anime spin-off film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. Though no viewership numbers have been properly released as of yet, the reviews were very high for the film, currently sitting at a 100 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an 86 percent approval rating from audiences. It will be interesting to see if season 2 can reach similar critical heights and clear the 68 percent bar set by its predecessor when it premieres on December 17.
Source: Netflix