Netflix’s upcoming TV adaptation of The Witcher almost starred Ciri, instead of Geralt. The eight-episode series will revolve around Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter, who will be portrayed by Henry Cavill (Man of Steel). Joining him will be Princess Ciri, portrayed by Freya Allan (Bluebird). It was recently revealed that in an alternate universe, these roles may have been reversed, with Ciri playing the central character in the new show.
The Witcher was originally a series of novels and short stories by author Andrzej Sapkowski, revolving around monster hunters with supernatural abilities. The popular series has been adapted into graphic novels, TV shows, movies, and video games, with varying degrees of success. Netflix’s adaptation will be the latest iteration of this series, and may be among the biggest steps yet for the franchise in recent history. In fact, the show has already been confirmed for a season 2, ahead of its season 1 premiere, which demonstrates confidence in its potential.
In a recent interview on Netflix’s YouTube channel, The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich revealed that her initial pitch for the show revolved around Ciri, and would have been based on the second to last book of the series: Lady of the Lake. In this version of the show, Ciri would have been the narrator and the audience’s anchor to the world of The Witcher. The reason given by Hissrich is that she didn’t want the audience to get to know the female characters like Ciri and Yennefer solely through the eyes of Geralt, the male protagonist. Hissrich wanted audiences to meet and see who Ciri was first. However, she did not follow through with this version. “I realized as I started writing that version that I wasn’t getting enough of Geralt and his perspective, because it was being told through Ciri,” explained Hissrich.
Hissrich ended up going through several different versions before finally coming to the conclusion that she could tell the stories of three characters at the same time. Hissrich says that telling three stories at the same time means that The Witcher won’t be a standard, linear story. There will be time jumps, as the audience learns more about the background of each character. Henry Cavill himself has stated that he’s excited to learn about Geralt’s history.
There has been a ton of buzz about this series throughout its production. It’s hard to forget the backlash when Netflix first revealed Henry Cavill’s look as Geralt. However, Netflix has seemingly won back fan interest since then. A recently released action sequence definitely had the Internet talking. With such great source material and incredible talents involved in the project, it isn’t too hard to remain optimistic. Fans will find out on December 20, 2019 exactly how the three stories described by Hissrich will weave together, when The Witcher airs worldwide on Netflix.
