The Witcher (Neflix)

[Gwynbleidd]

I'm a hardcore Witcher fan although I'm reserving my final judgment of this Netflix version of The Witcher until I've seen the entire season.  I'd like to give it the benefit of the doubt so I'll wait and see.  It is true, there has been so much negative feedback towards the show's head writer such as Lauren HIssrich and also the casting of some of the main characters due to somewhat questionable choices.  They still maintained they wanted to stay canon with the books version of the story so only time will tell at this point.

When Henry Cavill was first cast as Geralt, I found it hard to picture him playing this character.  I've read all of the Witcher books and they helped me to understand the Witcher Series on a much deeper level (as books do!).  One thing I did cling to hope with was the fact that when Cavill was cast, he said he used to play all of the Witcher games which in turn led him to read all of the books so he was extremely familiar with the character and storyline.  That was a plus!   

I was concerned over the casting of an Indian girl as Yennefer.  A lot of people said she was too young but as described in the books, Yennefer is almost super-natural in her beauty with BLUE eyes, raven coloured hair and a nose that is not quite perfect.  After seeing the trailer I'm incredibly happy with the actress they've cast and how they've turned her into Yen! 

The actress they've cast as Ciri (Cirilla) is perfect.  She's got that little girl look that is also a determined stubborn young Miss who is not frightened of anything.

And last of all, Cavill as Geralt is HUGE.  He looks so pumped up ripped (almost too big to be Geralt?) - which is also something I worried about when they first cast him.  Yen often complained to Geralt in the books that he looked half starved, pasty white in pallor as he was always "On the Path" as this is what Witchers do, finding food and work wherever they could and was often penniless.  

Although, I'd sooner have an Actor who looks too big and pumped up, cast in this part who has played the game, read the books and saw it as a dream come true to play Geralt on the screen, rather than an Actor who is ripped but has never played the games or read the books.

I'm also happy with the way they've done his hair.  Geralt's hair is really important to me anyway and the first screentest vid Netflix first put out started the negativity.  So I'm super happy they've made his hair much more realistic.  It doesn't even look like the same wig!  He looks great even when he takes his potions and he turns into what I like to refer to him as Toxic Geralt, his eyes go all black.  I like the way they've done that.  I think more veins should be popping out on his skin but it was only a close shot of him like that so hopefully they'll do more with effects.  I'm happy at this stage with it.  

Any other Witcher fans hardcore or not, excited to watch this new Series?

Edited July 20, 2019 by pixiii

[Piney]

36 minutes ago, pixiii said:

Any other Witcher fans hardcore or not, excited to watch this new Series?

I never heard of it except in passing reference but you certainly piqued my interest. 

[Unusual Tournament]

37 minutes ago, pixiii said:

I'm a hardcore Witcher fan although I'm reserving my final judgment of this Netflix version of The Witcher until I've seen the entire season.  I'd like to give it the benefit of the doubt so I'll wait and see.  It is true, there has been so much negative feedback towards the show's head writer such as Lauren HIssrich and also the casting of some of the main characters due to somewhat questionable choices.  They still maintained they wanted to stay canon with the books version of the story so only time will tell at this point.

When Henry Cavill was first cast as Geralt, I found it hard to picture him playing this character.  I've read all of the Witcher books and they helped me to understand the Witcher Series on a much deeper level (as books do!).  One thing I did cling to hope with was the fact that when Cavill was cast, he said he used to play all of the Witcher games which in turn led him to read all of the books so he was extremely familiar with the character and storyline.  That was a plus!   

I was concerned over the casting of an Indian girl as Yennefer.  A lot of people said she was too young but as described in the books, Yennefer is almost super-natural in her beauty with BLUE eyes, raven coloured hair and a nose that is not quite perfect.  After seeing the trailer I'm incredibly happy with the actress they've cast and how they've turned her into Yen! 

The actress they've cast as Ciri (Cirilla) is perfect.  She's got that little girl look that is also a determined stubborn young Miss who is not frightened of anything.

And last of all, Cavill as Geralt is HUGE.  He looks so pumped up ripped (almost too big to be Geralt?) - which is also something I worried about when they first cast him.  Yen often complained to Geralt in the books that he looked half starved, pasty white in pallor as he was always "On the Path" as this is what Witchers do, finding food and work wherever they could and was often penniless.  

Although, I'd sooner have an Actor who looks too big and pumped up, cast in this part who has played the game, read the books and saw it as a dream come true to play Geralt on the screen, rather than an Actor who is ripped but has never played the games or read the books.

I'm also happy with the way they've done his hair.  Geralt's hair is really important to me anyway and the first screentest vid Netflix first put out started the negativity.  So I'm super happy they've made his hair much more realistic.  It doesn't even look like the same wig!  He looks great even when he takes his potions and he turns into what I like to refer to him as Toxic Geralt, his eyes go all black.  I like the way they've done that.  I think more veins should be popping out on his skin but it was only a close shot of him like that so hopefully they'll do more with effects.  I'm happy at this stage with it.  

Any other Witcher fans hardcore or not, excited to watch this new Series?

Interesting shorts. I'll give it a go. Is this series available now on Netflix?

[Gwynbleidd]

3 minutes ago, Captain Risky said:

Interesting shorts. I'll give it a go. Is this series available now on Netflix?

All I can find so far is this, sorry @Captain Risky

The Witcher, coming soon, Only on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/thewitcher

[Gwynbleidd]

https://netflixlife.com/2019/04/17/netflix-the-witcher-released-date-late-2019/

Ok looks like it's set for release Q4 which I gather is 4th Quarter for Netflix.  It says in the article, anywhere from October onwards by the looks of things. I'm so looking forward to it now.  

[Wickian]

I'm not a very big fan of the franchise and don't know much about it, but earlier I read someone who apparently is was disgusted at the writers of the series.  He claims the feminist writers hate the Nilfgaard "patriarchy" so much they redesigned their armor to have head shaped helmets(pretty obvious) and shriveled scrotum skin armor.  Or so he claims anyway.  It very possible it's just completely terrible costume design.

 

I looked it up a bit and lot of people noticed how silly the armor looks months ago but they assumed it was pre-cgi armor or something.  The trailer seems to have killed that theory, pause at 1:08 to see for yourself.

Who knows what other "artistic licenses" they've taken because they don't like the source material.

Edited July 20, 2019 by Wickian

[ExpandMyMind]

1 hour ago, Wickian said:

He claims the feminist writers hate the Nilfgaard "patriarchy" so much they redesigned their armor to have head shaped helmets(pretty obvious) and shriveled scrotum skin armor.  Or so he claims anyway.

Who reads the opinions of some misogynistic incel (and a fanboy, which amplifies his emotions considerably) online and actually believes a word of it? The guy is just another who is butthurt due to a woman being given a job as a writer or director. 

The writers on shows generally have nothing to do with (and definitely not the last decision on) costume designs, casting or set designs. And there is no evidence that the writer mentioned doesn't like the source material or 'hates the Nilfgaard patriarchy'. Jesus ****ing Christ with this internet these days. A platform for idiots to spread their hate and for people to apparently eat it up.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this show. I don't really care about the source material because the game changed a lot about the books and the books are below-average fantasy anyways. Like all adapted materials, I'm just going to go into it with fresh eyes and treat it like a new world and story - which is what everyone should do. And I couldn't give a **** if it was written by a woman who is a feminist. 

[Gwynbleidd]

1 hour ago, Wickian said:

I'm not a very big fan of the franchise and don't know much about it, but earlier I read someone who apparently is was disgusted at the writers of the series.  He claims the feminist writers hate the Nilfgaard "patriarchy" so much they redesigned their armor to have head shaped helmets(pretty obvious) and shriveled scrotum skin armor.  Or so he claims anyway.  It very possible it's just completely terrible costume design.

  Reveal hidden contents

I looked it up a bit and lot of people noticed how silly the armor looks months ago but they assumed it was pre-cgi armor or something.  The trailer seems to have killed that theory, pause at 1:08 to see for yourself.

Who knows what other "artistic licenses" they've taken because they don't like the source material.

Oh yes, there was and still is so much negativity surrounding the casting of the series itself.  In the beginning, Lauren Hissrich (the head screenwriter hired to adapt from the original books) said she wanted to ensure she stayed canon to the story (books) and to make sure fans were happy with that.  Well, the first red flag that made fans go absolutely crazy was when they sent out a casting call for the character of Cirilla.  In the books, Cirilla (Geralt, the main protagonist's ward/adopted daughter) is described as female, fair coloured skin with ash blonde hair and blue/green eyes.  The casting call Netflix asked for was a BAME.  For those of you not familiar with BAME, it stands for Black, Asian and/or Minority Ethnicity and/or Non-White person.  This caused fans to go BERSERK.  So much so, that Lauren Hissrich had to go "offline" from twitter for a few days simply due to the massive abuse hurled at her through tweets from angry fans etc. No, I was not one of these fans as I'd like to think I have a tad more self restraint than to carry on like that.   

Lauren eventually came back "online" to apologise to fans and tried to ensure everyone that she would make them proud whilst staying canon to the books themselves.  

Fans have gotten angry over just about every single character cast.  It has just gotten worse as time has gone on.  For myself, I know I found the casting strange for another sorceress in the books called Fringilla Vigo.  She is a relative of Cirilla's and she is definitely not black, although has dark hair and not much else is mentioned re her description.  However, they've cast a black female actress called Mimi Ndiweni in this part and I'm interested in seeing how they will incorporate her into the storyline as Ciri's relative or perhaps not mention the family ties at all.  It was disappointing as I had faith that Hissrich essentially promised she would keep to the books, but as I said, the description is vague and depends how one interprets it I guess.  

In the end, I think they did a wonderful job of casting Cirilla.  A lovely young actress called Freya Allan is playing Ciri and imho she's just how I'd imagined Ciri to look.  

The character of Triss will be played by Anna Shaffer who I will be interested in seeing how they change her looks entirely as Triss is described as richly coloured red hair (like very, very red), with fair coloured skin, slight freckles and green eyes.  The actress has the freckles at this stage, so a hair colour change and contacts should help complete the look.  

For Yennefer, I did mention in an earlier post that I was concerned at who they'd cast for someone who is described as having an unearthly beauty of raven coloured hair with blue/violet eyes and fair coloured skin.  She is also described as having a nose that is not quite right, when looking at her, it seems just a little bit too long, but it does not detract from her beauty.  She is diminutive in stature and always wears black.  She is a powerful sorceress and although she is beautiful in the present state, her past growing up was as a different looking person altogether.  She was someone treated incredibly awful by her own family because of the way she looked.  I think they've nailed it when I look at how they've made the actress reflect Yen's colouring.  She has the blue/violet eyes, the dark hair and her skin looks lovely.  She is played by an actress of Indian heritage called Anya Chalotra. 

I'm just happy they're adapting the books into a tv series and I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it gains some new fans that weren't aware of The Witcher prior and that the hardcore fans come around and see that it wasn't all that bad. 

I do apologise for raving about this.  It's just something I absolutely love!        

     

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

I'm reserving final judgement on Henry Cavill still but I'm excited we finally got a look at the trailer. Super excited.

[Vorg]

14 hours ago, Piney said:

I never heard of it except in passing reference but you certainly piqued my interest. 

It's one of the most popular RPG's of all times. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=the+witcher+3&FORM=HDRSC2

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

This made me laugh.

 

[Gwynbleidd]

Quote

Hissrich: 'In the books, Geralt’s actually quite chatty. What I found though is that on-screen, a lot can be done in looks and in grunts. In the best way possible, Henry’s a big grunter. It’s kind of amazing what is accomplished in silence & I think makes him that much more powerful of a character.'

I'm not sure about the rest of you that have read the books, but I wouldn't have ever described Geralt as "chatty".  I was kinda surprised Hissrich saw Geralt that way and wondered if she'd read all of the books and not just the short stories.  The words that spring to my mind are witty and quippy in that sardonic way Geralt does so well.  In fact, I'd go as far to say that Geralt couldn't be bothered speaking a lot to people as he'd see it as wasting words and breath on them (apart from his loved ones of course).   

https://www.reddit.com/r/netflixwitcher/comments/cghmwd/hissrich_in_the_books_geralts_actually_quite/

But wait.... I stand corrected.  I just read an interview with them where she addressed this....thank goodness! I thought I was going mad for a second there.  

https://ew.com/comic-con/2019/07/18/the-witcher-showrunner-interview-netflix/

Quote

You started to address this at the end of that answer, but what’s he like in the role?
In the books, Geralt is largely silent, to an extent. He tends to take in what’s around him and process that internally. But you can’t have [a lead character] process everything internally in a television show. So in the first episode, I wrote Geralt with a lot of lines. Henry shot them all, and in the edit we started pulling some of them out. Henry brings subtitles to this character, finding emotional resonance in small moments, and playing it in such a subtle way that you understand what the character is going through without necessarily having huge chunks of dialogue. By the time we got to episode 108 — the finale of the first season — we didn’t even shoot half the dialogue because we knew there was so much Henry could do with Geralt that didn’t require my words.

 

Also I just found this article that has come out today 25th July 2019 which has an excellent breakdown for both old fans and new to get the gist of whats happening.

Quote

Breaking Down The Magic, Monsters, And Burly Men Of The Witcher Trailer

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/07/breaking-down-the-magic-monsters-and-burly-men-of-the-witcher-trailer/

The only thing I realised in one of those clips is Triss.  She doesn't appear to have that amazing red hair that she has in the books or games.  Perhaps it's just the lighting so I'll wait to see.  Oh well, such is life....I'm Team Yen anyway  

This is meant to be Triss with red hair ^^  It's somewhat red, but nowhere near as red as I thought it'd be. Oh well. 

Edited July 25, 2019 by pixiii
adding quotes

[Golden Duck]

On 20/07/2019 at 4:29 PM, ExpandMyMind said:

...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this show. I don't really care about the source material because the game changed a lot about the books and the books are below-average fantasy anyways. Like all adapted materials, I'm just going to go into it with fresh eyes and treat it like a new world and story - which is what everyone should do. And I couldn't give a **** if it was written by a woman who is a feminist. 

That's good advice.

I didn't like the Hitman movie.  (There's no way the protagonist could've got anything above a Psychopath rating.)

OTOH, a movie that tried to emulate the Silent Assassin rating would probably be very boring.

[Robotic Jew]

I'm not a hardcore fan, but I've played the potion mixing simulator that was Wither 3 and really enjoyed it. I'll give the series a try but I've yet to see Henry Cavill in anything that I enjoyed so there's always that. Hopefully, he proves me wrong here.

[ExpandMyMind]

8 hours ago, Robotic Jew said:

I'm not a hardcore fan, but I've played the potion mixing simulator that was Wither 3 and really enjoyed it. I'll give the series a try but I've yet to see Henry Cavill in anything that I enjoyed so there's always that. Hopefully, he proves me wrong here.

He was pretty good in The Tudors, which itself was a good show.

[Gwynbleidd]

I just wanted to post an update on the Showrunner, Lauren Hissrich's response to the backlash of the show (via her twitter acc).  I'm not worried about the show at this stage at all.  I'd much rather wait and see (with my fingers crossed of course!). I feel quite positive about it to be honest.  I hope others do too.  

 

13 hours ago, ExpandMyMind said:

He was pretty good in The Tudors, which itself was a good show.

Absolutely, The Tudors was a really good show and it was the first time I'd ever seen Cavill too.  I'm not even sure if or what he acted in prior to that, but I definitely hadn't seen him before.  I've never been into the superhero movies, so I never bothered with watching Superman.

Edited July 31, 2019 by pixiii

[ExpandMyMind]

38 minutes ago, pixiii said:

I just wanted to post an update on the Showrunner, Lauren Hissrich's response to the backlash of the show (via her twitter acc).  I'm not worried about the show at this stage at all.  I'd much rather wait and see (with my fingers crossed of course!). I feel quite positive about it to be honest.  I hope others do too.  

 

Absolutely, The Tudors was a really good show and it was the first time I'd ever seen Cavill too.  I'm not even sure if or what he acted in prior to that, but I definitely hadn't seen him before.  I've never been into the superhero movies, so I never bothered with watching Superman.

Honestly, his performance as Superman will be pretty close to Geralt. He'll have more one-liners as The Witcher, but they both have a similar brooding style.

[Gwynbleidd]

13 minutes ago, ExpandMyMind said:

Honestly, his performance as Superman will be pretty close to Geralt. He'll have more one-liners as The Witcher, but they both have a similar brooding style.

Oh lovely, thanks!  I was actually hoping at one stage after they'd cast Cavill that they'd use Doug Cockle to do a total voice-over of the entire Witcher TV series....   I know. I'm obsessed. LOL

[ExpandMyMind]

2 minutes ago, pixiii said:

Oh lovely, thanks!  I was actually hoping at one stage after they'd cast Cavill that they'd use Doug Cockle to do a total voice-over of the entire Witcher TV series....   I know. I'm obsessed. LOL

According to the writers (or maybe director?), they actually ended up leaving out a lot of Cavill's lines towards the end of the season because he was so good at conveying his emotion or reaction to something with no more than a look, which, from what I've read, will be closer to Geralt. One of the problems with TV shows when adapting books is that they often have to use dialogue to convey something that a character originally said (thought) internally, which for Geralt would pose a problem since his overall personality is one that's not so talkative. So Cavill seems to be a decent fit (though I guess the showrunners would have to say that).

[Gwynbleidd]

18 minutes ago, ExpandMyMind said:

According to the writers (or maybe director?), they actually ended up leaving out a lot of Cavill's lines towards the end of the season because he was so good at conveying his emotion or reaction to something with no more than a look, which, from what I've read, will be closer to Geralt. One of the problems with TV shows when adapting books is that they often have to use dialogue to convey something that a character originally said (thought) internally, which for Geralt would pose a problem since his overall personality is one that's not so talkative. So Cavill seems to be a decent fit (though I guess the showrunners would have to say that).

Yes exactly I agree completely.   I mentioned earlier in this thread somewhere about how Lauren (the showrunner) said Geralt was quite chatty and I thought to myself, that's not how I'd ever describe Geralt.  So I'm terribly glad Cavill is on board as he's played the games, read the books, has a good idea of who Geralt is and his mannerisms etc.  Even from the trailer I was impressed with him just walking along with his hair hanging over his face, looking downwards.  I'm glad they took out the excess dialogue too, as you'd know yourself from playing the games, Geralt says so much with just a look.  He doesn't waste time talking to people he couldn't be bothered with.  I also noted that the showrunner had only read the first 1-2 books so she must be going to see how the first series goes and read onwards from there.  I really do hope it does well. 

[Gwynbleidd]

Here's some more tidbits of info about the characters in Season 1  

The Witcher's Freya Allan Breaks Down Ciri's Season 1 Journey

"Ciri is the princess of Cintra," Allan said during the interview. "She is very feisty and stubborn [...] but also has been protected her whole life, and always been surrounded by the same people, same environment; so she's very innocent, naïve. Hasn't experienced the real world at all. Her idea of the real world is going out into the streets, disguising herself as one of the boys, and playing on the street. And really hasn't seen how brutal the world truly can be. That's what she experiences."

https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/08/05/witcher-ciri-freya-allan-season-1-netflix-description/

The Witcher's Anya Chalotra Breaks Down Who Yennefer Is in Season 1

"Yennefer is a sorceress, and she is the ultimate survivor," Chalotra said. "She's stubborn. She won't take no for an answer. She is in a constant battle with herself. She's also witty and brave and sexy. Yeah, and one of the most powerful mages on the continent."

"So in our version of The Witcher, we explore Yennefer's backstory," she added. "So we explore from her at 14 years old to when she's 77, and so within that there's that huge turning point for her when she discovers her powers and the purpose that that gives her. [...] And also the transformation. Yeah, and the journey of self-discovery she goes on from then on."

https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/08/04/the-witcher-yennefer-anya-chalotra-season-1-description/

Only one this is bothering me at this point with some articles (quite a lot actually) that are mentioning Game of Thrones and how this series could possibly be a go-to series for GoT fans.  At the risk of sounding quite negative here, I wish they'd stop it.  I realise they'll continue to try to market it as the next big fantasy series.  I just think comparing it with GoT sets the bar for the Witcher series, unrealistically high, especially as GoT was so overwhelmingly successful etc.  

[Gwynbleidd]

Wooooohooooo this Fall the Witcher is on Netflix! 

https://bgr.com/2019/08/27/netflix-series-coming-soon-fall-2019/   I am so excited!  

Date to be advised though.  

 

Here’s the full list of the most-anticipated Netflix series for the fall:

1. The Witcher (premiere date still to come)
2. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (August 30)
3. Unbelievable (Sept. 13)
4. The Politician (Sept. 27)
5. Criminal (Sept. 20)
6. Raising Dion (Oct. 4)
7. Black Moon (premiere date still to come)
8. One Piece (premiere date still to come)
9. The Sandman TBA (premiere date still to come)
10. Wizards: Tales of Arcadia (premiere date still to come)

[Gwynbleidd]

Looks like a possible date for Release on Netflix will be the 1st November this year.  

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/2019/08/29/netflix-producer-teases-likely-release-date-for-the-witcher/

 

 

[Gwynbleidd]

 

[+Desertrat56]

On 7/19/2019 at 7:44 PM, Gwynbleidd said:

All I can find so far is this, sorry @Captain Risky

The Witcher, coming soon, Only on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/thewitcher

I never heard of this series of books or the game.  If Netflix did it, I hope you enjoy it.  I have been disappointed in the netflix originals that I have seen so far.  But, if it sticks to the books it should be good.