Netflix announce The Witcher is set to get a prequel called Blood Origin set 1200 years earlier

Netflix announced on Monday their plans to release The Witcher: Blood Origin, a prequel series to their acclaimed TV drama. 

The limited six-part live action series will be set in the Elven world around 1,200 years before the Netflix original and is based on The Witcher fiction books created by Andrzej Sapkowski. 

The Witcher – starring Henry Cavill – became one of Netflix’s highest rating original series on IMDb just days after its release last year, and has been commissioned for a second series, a spin off film, and now a prequel. 

The first series was shot in Budapest and was released in December 2019, whereas Blood Origin will begin shooting in the UK and no official release date has been announced. 

The original Netflix show followed the journey of the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia [Cavill] a mutated monster hunter who travels across the mythical land on his quest to slay monstrous beasts.

Geralt is one of the few remaining Witchers on the continent and he struggles to find his way in the wicked world as he is often misunderstood by others.  

Blood Origin will unearth the origins of the very first Witcher in a time before the Elven civilisation came to an end. 

It will recount the pivotal moments that lead up to the ‘conjunction of spheres’ where the worlds of monsters, elves and men collided.

Declan de Barra, the show’s executive producer can’t wait to get his teeth stuck into the new limited series and believes fans will gain a new insight into the fantasy world.

He said: ‘As a lifelong fan of fantasy, I am beyond excited to tell the story The Witcher: Blood Origin. 

‘A question has been burning in my mind ever since I first read The Witcher books – What was the Elven world really like before the cataclysmic arrival of the humans? 

‘I’ve always been fascinated by the rise and fall of civilizations, how science, discovery, and culture flourish right before that fall. 

‘How vast swathes of knowledge are lost forever in such a short time, often compounded by colonization and a rewriting of history. Leaving only fragments of a civilization’s true story behind. 

‘The Witcher: Blood Origin will tell the tale of the Elven civilisation before its fall, and most importantly reveal the forgotten history of the very first Witcher.’ 

In January this year, Netflix also announced an animation spin-off film, The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf, which focuses on the origins of Geralt’s older mentor, Witcher Vesemir.