The Netflix drama series ‘The Witcher‘ produced by Beau DeMayo stars Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Freya Allen, and Joey Batey. The show is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski which follows the story of Geralt of Rivia. Now that Season 3 has come and gone, the fandom was struck with a new wave of changes from the source material, and with it a new wave of questions.
Just last October Netflix announced that Henry Cavill would not be returning for season four. Following Cavill’s exit, Liam Hemsworth is taking up the mantle of Geralt of Rivia. However the exact reason behind Cavill’s departure is still unclear, but fans began to speculate that it might be because of creative differences and the show’s writers deviating away from the source material.
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‘The Witcher’ Producer Simplified The Plot Only For American Audience
After season three, ‘The Witcher’ saw a significant fall in viewership as the show’s writers moved away from the original material written by the Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. While taking to a Polish website Wyborcza, the show’s producer Tomek Baginski revealed the reason for the show deviating from the source material.
According to the producer, “When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers, with different experiences, from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are American, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary”. Baginski further added, “It’s painful for us, but a higher level of nuance and complexity will have a smaller range. It won’t reach people. Sometimes it may go too far, but we have to make these decisions and accept them.”
Baginski also acknowledged that there were many other reasons why ‘The Witcher’ currently in the third season shifted away from the source material. The producer added, “Sometimes the changes are the result of production chaos, because, for example, an actor fell ill and the plot needs to be edited and rewritten within a few hours so that it can be shot the next day, because this is not the plot for which the whole production machine will stop.” Baginski then continued by saying, “There are a lot of understandable reasons controversial decisions are made, but the viewer does not have this context, so sometimes it hurts because something was better in the book.”
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Will ‘The Witcher’ Be Faithful To The Books In Upcoming Seasons?
After the decrease in viewership because of the lack of originality from the source material, the showrunner of the show Lauren S.Hissrich promised the fans a faithful adaptation. Lauren S. Hissrich indicated that the show’s third season would closely follow the events of Andrzej Sapowski’s second full-length ‘The Witcher‘ novel titled ‘Time of Contempt‘. She said, “Season 3, especially on the heels of Season 2, is a much more direct adaptation. Again just from a basic writing perspective, the book is so easily adaptable. And it really is, it can be broken down into big events.”
This isn’t the first time Tomek Baginski has blamed American sensibilities for certain show plot points. In an interview with the Polish YouTube channel Imponderabilia, Baginski pointed out season two’s low viewership as a byproduct of younger viewers who frequent social media sites like YouTube and TikTok for having short attention spans. Baginski said, “When it comes to shows, the younger the public is, the logic of the plot is less significant…Those people grew up on TikTok and YouTube, they jump from video to video”, further adding that young folks gravitate more toward “just emotions.”
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