The Witcher: Blood Origin showrunner Declan de Barra says the prequel series does have a definitive end but could potentially continue. The spin-off first entered development shortly after finalizing work on The Witcher season 1 when de Barra was approached by showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich and Netflix executive Kelly Luegenbiehl for ideas of a possible prequel. It would officially be announced to be in the works in mid 2020 when Netflix greenlit The Witcher: Blood Origin as a six-part miniseries with de Barra set as the showrunner.
The Witcher: Blood Origin will be set 1200 years before the events of the mothership series and will explore the creation of the first Witcher, as well as the events leading to the infamous Conjunction of the Spheres. The series’ cast will include Sophia Brown, Laurence O’Fuarain, Michelle Yeoh, Lenny Henry, Mirren Mack, Dylan Moran, Nathaniel Curtis and Jacob Collins-Levy. As production is underway on the series, de Barra is already reflecting on the potential future of The Witcher: Blood Origin.
De Barra recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly as part of the publication’s look at the expanding world of Netflix’s The Witcher franchise. In discussing the life span of his spin-off, The Witcher: Blood Origin, the showrunner confirmed there is an end in mind for the series, but that it could possibly live on if the fans were interested, with Luegenbiehl echoing the sentiment. See what Luegenbiehl said below:
“With shows of this size and scope and scale, you really do have to plan years and years in advance. So I think in best execution — and as long as people are still loving the stories — there’s a lot more that we can do in this world.”
When it was first announced to be in development, The Witcher: Blood Origin was labelled as a miniseries, making de Barra’s confirmation of a definite end in mind for the project not too surprising. However, given the ongoing success of the franchise based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels, it’s also comes as understandable that he and the creative team behind the universe would leave the door open for the prequel to continue. Given its timeline of being set 1200 years before the events of the main show, there will certainly be plenty of narrative to explore.
Whether said narrative would focus on The Witcher: Blood Origin characters or other areas of the fantasy universe is unknown at this time as details surrounding the prequel series remain under wraps. With production having begun on the show earlier this year, fans can certainly hope to learn more about or see more of the title in the coming months. In the meantime, audiences can look forward to The Witcher returning for season 2 on December 17.
