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Netflix announced in May that it would be adapting The Witcher into a television series, but we were given surprisingly few details about who was involved. But now, Variety reports that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich will serve as executive producer and showrunner.
Name not ringing any bells? Hissrich was a producer for Daredevil season 2 and The Defenders, working alongside showrunners Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez, who oversaw both projects. She was also one of the writers for both shows, as well as a staff writer on The West Wing. Sounds like a pretty good resume for someone charged with adapting a serious take on Polish fantasy to me.
The show still has no release date or cast, but these are the early days and that's not terribly surprising. It should be noted, however, that when it does arrive, it will be based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski, not CD Projekt Red's games. Sapkowski sold the rights to a video game adaptation long ago, but he receives no profits from the games, has not consulted with CD Projekt Red since and, frankly, has no interest in the medium (though he's noted that he also has no hate for games, they're just not his thing).
Also, whereas games like Assassins of Kings and Wild Hunt portray Geralt as a strong-willed and confident monster slayer with plenty of gold in his pockets and a lover in every town, the books present the silver-haired hero less like a morally ambiguous badass and more like a barely-getting-by murder hobo.
There's also less Triss, more Yennefer, not every monster requires silver to kill and... look, the books are actually way more different than you may think, is my point. But if you want to get a sample of what a live-action Witcher TV series could look like, check out the Polish version that was produced in 2002. You can find it under the names "Wiedzmin" or "The Hexer".
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