The Witcher series seems destined for a still flourishing future, even considering the departure of Henry Cavill and the enthronement of Liam Hemsworth as successor.
The next season of The Witcher on Netflix, marked by the replacement of Henry Cavill by Liam Hemsworth in the role of Geralt of Rivia, has been in the works for some time now. However, strikes orchestrated by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) interrupted the process for several months this year. Fortunately, with the conclusion of the WGA strike, writing can begin again.
The Witcher: it’s the revival
After an agreement reached a little over a week ago between the WGA and the studios, writing is set to resume very soon for season 4 of The Witcher in order to finalize and refine the scripts. Once this work is completed, development of Season 5 will begin. We’ve known for a year that seasons 4 and 5 were intended to be produced almost simultaneously, and we now have confirmation of this intention. Presumably this is also a matter of cost, in addition to greater casting availability.
Before the strike, filming for Season 4 was scheduled to begin in September 2023. Now, the plan is to start filming in the first half of 2024. The strategy remains to shoot Season 4, observe a break, then move directly to filming season 5. A way of doing things which seems more and more present in the world of series.
A final season on the Horizon?
Although no official confirmation has been released yet, it appears that season 5 will most likely be the last of The Witcher on Netflix. The final two seasons should be inspired by the books Baptism of Fire, Tower of the Swallow and Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski, while integrating original material, in order to surprise die-hard fans and ensure a certain consistency with the sequence of previous events. It’s always better when we get a few surprises and it’s not a carbon copy.
Given the approximate start of production, it is unlikely that season 4 will be released on Netflix in 2024, thus likely pushing its release to 2025. As for season 5, it could be released in 2026, although it is still premature to discuss possible release dates.
We know that a spin-off series called The Rats is also in production. It should be the story of six young thieves wanting to carry out a heist. Strangely, this sounds a lot like the synopsis for the recent Dungeons and Dragons movie.