While waiting for season 4 of The Witcher on Netflix, bad news revolving around upcoming events adapted from the books is emerging, which could disappoint fans.
In season 3 of the Netflix series The Witcher released during the summer of 2023, we met for the first time the Rats, the band of rebels who take in a Ciri in very bad shape. In 2022, the platform announced a spin-off specially dedicated to them, called Riff Raff. However, it seems that this project has since encountered some problems. Is the burning memory of Blood Origin still too fresh in the showrunners’ minds?
The Rats from The Witcher left orphaned by Netflix?
To give more space to the Rats, a very important group in the books, The Witcher series planned a spin-off of six or eight episodes for them. This was to serve as a prequel to offer them more depth, in addition to the upcoming season 4. The project description was as follows: “ Six teenage thieves rely on their criminal skills as they plan the biggest heist of their careers against the kingdom’s biggest crime ring “.
Filming on the spin-off known under the code name Riff Raff was to last six months, with Mairzee Almas (The Sandman and the late Shadow & Bone) directing and Haily Hall writing the screenplay. This would have started at the beginning of May 2023, but ended abruptly two months later. We learn that only one or two episodes were filmed. But these first results do not seem to have convinced Netflix. The platform would have preferred to abandon this side project to The Witcher series.
The Rat troop in danger?
According to the latest news, it is possible that remnants of this spin-off will be reused in season 4 of The Witcher to come with Liam Hemsworth in the role of Geralt of Rivia. However, we may notice a small inconsistency if this is the case. Haily Hall, screenwriter and showrunner of the spin-off, is in fact not credited in said season 4. It could therefore be that what remains of Riff Raff will be added as a bonus episode or shortened in the form of a film. Unless the project is simply abandoned.
As a reminder, the Rat gang is represented in the Netflix series The Witcher as follows:
- Ben Radcliffe (Giselher)
- Christelle Elwin (Mistle)
- Fabian McCallum (Kayleigh)
- Aggy K. Adams (Iskra)
- Juliette Alexdran (Reef)
- Connor Crawford (Asse)
In any case, we will see Ciri evolve with these young bandits as part of season 4. This should be released according to the latest news on Netflix at the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025.