TheWitcher.tv Header Image

6/13/2020 7:17 pm

The Witcher Showrunner Lauren Hissrich Talks Return of Season Two

Fans were looking forward to the production of The Witcher season two in the beginning of the year, but the filming industry took an immediate halt due to the global Coronavirus pandemic. The good news is that things are starting to slowly return to “a new normal,” with production aimed to return to early August.

In the meantime, showrunner Lauren Hissrich spoke to The Wrap about what to expect from season two, and how things will change due to health and safety procedures implemented by the British Filming industry. Months earlier, Arborfield Studios shut down due to actor Kristofer Hivju testing positive for the virus. Hissrich elaborates on that more:

Obviously, first we wanted to make sure he was OK. He was tested as he flew back into his home country of Norway, and he was completely asymptomatic at the time. He had no idea he had it. So, of course, we had to follow up with everyone who came into contact with him and let them know what they should do if they start feeling sick. But thank God, knock on wood, we had no other illnesses spiraling off that one.

Because the threat of viral spread—in a business where hundreds of people must work together to produce a show—the team is currently production planning and being flexible in such a complex situation:

Right now, it’s a lot of production meetings, a lot of talking about how to keep people safe… A lot of it is just about flexibility, not just in the planning phases but when we get back on sets. It’s about personal comfort and personal safety. So, the government may say it’s OK to do X or Y, but an actor may say they don’t feel comfortable doing that. And that’s always going to be our first concern.

So, we’re making all sorts of plans and accommodations and waiting for various governments to weigh in with their recommendations. And film commissions and Netflix. And yeah, it’s going to impact story. It will have to. But one of the best things about being a writer on set is that I’m there to make those changes as we need them.

Really, in terms of writing, we just been honing a lot over the last eight weeks. Really digging back into scripts, making some big shifts, especially in the emotional journeys of our characters and making sure that everything we’re writing feels really grounded and true.

0118 article image 1
Credit: Matt Sayles for TheWrap

One thing that Hissrich is looking forward to in season two is exploring Geralt’s origin story. We get a glimpse of his past in a fever-induced flashbacks in season one: a young child abandoned by his mother, and a brief cameo of Vesemir, who will be played Killing Eve actor Tim Bodnia. Hissrich explains, “For Geralt, it’s his brothers, it’s the brotherhood of the witchers. So, I’m really excited to get back in and meet Vesemir, his father figure, for the first time and all of these men that he was raised with since he was seven years old.”

0118 article image 2
Actor Kim Bodnia

While the first season had some controversial problems with merging three timelines, Hissrich reassures viewers that will not be a problem moving forward—now that Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri’s timelines have been merged. Read or watch the full interview at The Wrap!

While there is some understandable excitement with the return to filming, Hissrich gives viewers clarity into the long process of making that a safe reality. Season two will be an interesting watch, given the quarantine and new safety standards, and we are looking forward to reuniting with the characters as soon as we (safely) can!

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below, or in our forums!

More Add new comment

6/10/2020 5:49 pm

A Witcher Season 2 Filming Start Date Found?

The world is starting to open back up and governments along with production companies have begun working on a plan that will get our favorite shows slowly back into production and then on air! Unlike filming in the United States or even Canada for that matter, The Witcher primarily films in Europe and that brings into question how the European's are handling this new development. We reported earlier that the UK Government had created a plan to get the filming industry going again. Today, according to Production Weekly, a date has been set for The Witcher to return to production! August 3rd is what is slated but at this time no source from the show has corroborated this news. For us, at this point, anything about the show going back into production is good news! We can't wait!

Let us know what you thought in the comments below or in our forum! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter for breaking news!

More Add new comment

6/3/2020 8:32 am

Production Could Start Soon/Superman Rumors

If you're like us then you've been sitting in quarantine watching and rewatching Netflix's The Witcher on almost repeat! But eventually you do get hungry for new content! Of course we don't want anything if it's at the expense of anyone's health. That said, a new report from The United Kingdom's government outlines how the British Filming Industry can return to work safely. It includes considerations for filmmakers at every level of budget and is intended to be scalable, allowing each production to apply the guidance to their specific project’s needs. This means that The UK unit for The Witcher could start rolling those cameras again soon!

On a somewhat different note, DC Comicbook fans have made a pretty unified call for Henry Cavill to remain the film universe's Superman. On a personal note, we really love Henry in that role but love him as Geralt too. Current rumors are that Superman will likely be in the DC Film Universe's Hulk (from the Marvel universe). This comparison is meant that Hulk often appeared in other hero films but never had a movie about himself solely. At least in later movies. We support this idea as it would keep Henry's schedule more open to continue The Witcher as well!

Let us know what you thought in the comments below or in our forum!

More Add new comment

5/17/2020 3:27 pm

Director Marc Jobst Discusses The Witcher Season One

It’s been nearly five months since the release of The Witcher on Netflix, and though production has been postponed on season two, there are occasional interviews that give valuable insight into the creation of the show. Director Marc Jobst (Punisher, and Daredevil), sat with At the Flicks to discuss his past work and involvement with The Witcher.

It is no surprise that the method of writing for television has changed since the rise of streaming services and Jobst speaks to how that influenced The Witcher:

Interestingly enough, writers are beginning to write for that. When I first started working for Netflix, I remember having dinner with them and saying to us, “Don't think of this as episodic TV. Think of this as chapters within a book.” That's fundamentally different to how you tell a story. In the traditional British model of the BBC or whatever, you have a cliffhanger at the end of every episode, and that's what the audience hooks into. That's what will lead them into coming back the following week.

If you are writing for a binge-watching audience, you think they're going to do at least two- possibly four episodes. You don't have to have that hook. It means that you can have one episode as a chapter. You can lead on to the next episode, which is a different chapter—maybe even unrelated. Then you can come back to the storyline much later on.

0115 image 1Credit: Marc Jobst

When asked if Jobst has ever played the game, the answer is no. He started to understand the world of the show as he went along and started to find things that interested him about Geralt:

I feel like I have come into it as an audience member who doesn't know the show and say, ‘Okay, what am I interested in?’ I'm interested in who this guy is. Who is he? What is he? What does he do? Why does he do what he did? Does? Why is he silent and sullen and why is he so grumpy all the time?

There’s nothing wrong with being grumpy! It's just that when you're making a live action drama with your grumpy character as your lead, you need to start to understand him. You need to give the audience access to that character as being resident to their own grumpiness. What makes us grumpy? How do we deal with being grumpy? How does he deal with it?

We do get a glimpse into what Geralt’s past and abandonment issues are via a delirious memory of his mother. Whether or not Visenna was actually there to save him, that is left for the viewer to decide.

He gets bitten by the ghouls and gets fevers. In this deliriousness, he flashes back to his childhood—the little boy who gets abandoned by his mom, taken to Kaer Morhen and becomes the Witcher that he is.

In his deliriousness—or IS he delirious? The big question mark in that scene by the tree where his mother comes to visit him: is it his mother or is he dreaming it? We left it deliberately ambiguous. There's been a lot of argument on fan pages about this, but I wanted to leave it ambiguous for Geralt to say, “Tell me, at least, that you knew what you were doing.” Again, I think some of the skillfulness in the storytelling is it's not telling you that that's why he is grumpy. It's just giving you a backstory as to a child that has been abandoned. That could therefore give reason for somebody who feels the world is against him or not for him.

0115 image 2Credit: The Witcher (Visenna and Geralt)

Marc Jobst goes further into filmmaking and his career in this insightful interview. If you have the time, it is well worth the listen! Let us know what you thought in the comments below or in our forum!

More Add new comment

5/4/2020 7:19 pm

Discord Group Adopts Animals on Behalf of Cast and Crew

2020 has been a crazy time so far, but there are some silver linings during quarantine. First, there was #TheGreatWitcherBakeoff, but now member from The Amazing Devil Discord Group have started a sweet campaign called the #GreatWitcherZoo.

The Amazing Devil is an alt-folk band comprised of Madeleine Hyland and Joey Batey, who plays Jaskier on The Witcher. In the last 24 hours, members of the discord group have “adopted” animals on behalf of the cast and crew, and it’s as wholesome as you might think:

Actors Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan also have such fitting animal adoptions:

0114 image 1

0114 image 2

We love the kindness and thoughtfulness by the members of The Amazing Devil Discord Group. Not only have they brought joy to the cast and crew but are supporting beautiful animals in the process. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below or in our forum!

More Add new comment