Interest in Netflix’s live-action Witcher universe is declining by the hour as more fans come to terms with the truth that there might be no return for Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia, but the streaming mogul is still determined to see this venture through. The latest spinoff to come off Andrzej Sapkowski’s work is Blood Origin, which will deal with the creation of the first Witcher and the cataclysmic event known as the Conjunction of the Spheres that shook the very foundations of the Continent and forever changed its destiny.
As the company prepares for the launch of the four-part limited show, which was originally supposed to include six episodes —and that alone should tell you volumes about the kind of mismanagement that might be going on behind the curtains— the petition to bring back Cavill and fire the creative team passes 200,000 signatures.
An unlikely and all but forgotten surreal fantasy flick finds enlightenment on streaming
Death is the road to awe, or so experimental filmmaker Darren Aronofsky would have you believe in his 2006 cult classic, The Fountain. The movie that was originally supposed to be made with a $70 million budget and star Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in this love story across time and space, but Aronofsky ultimately had to make do with half of that and cast Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz in the lead roles. The Fountain may be a half-realized vision, but the movie has nevertheless turned into a cult classic over the years and is now finding new life in streaming.
The Witcher: Blood Origin is a prequel that’s… kind of exciting?
Netflix wants to ride on the Witcher hype train for as long as possible, and through any means necessary. While the main show has had its ups and downs, and its future is now in an ambiguous state following Henry Cavill’s departure, Lauren S. Hissrich is still overseeing a number of different side projects, and the latest of them is coming out in a little over a month. Blood Origin will depict the story of the Continent more than a thousand years before Geralt’s time.
More specifically, the limited show will depict the creation of the first Witcher and the downfall of the Elven kingdoms of Aen Seidhe, and the latest trailer heralding its imminent arrival teases a lot of blood-pumping action.
Petition to bring back Henry Cavill to The Witcher is gaining more traction every day
It’s strange to think that Henry Cavill is the one who has decided to leave Geralt hanging, and yet, no one in the community —literally not a single person— is blaming him for what’s happening to their favorite fantasy adaptation. It seems that the majority of the fans recognize the writers, or at least parts of the creative team, as the true delinquents in this conundrum, and you needn’t look any further to see their rage manifested than the petition to have Netflix remove them and reinstate Henry Cavill. The appeal has now passed 200,000 signatures and is well on its way to hit another goalpost.
Will it be enough to get Netflix’s attention, though? And will they do something about it? I guess that’s a question that only time will answer, provided that we have the right of the matter in the first place.