If you’re a fan of live-action video game adaptations, there’s a decent chance that you’re aware of the Netflix original series The Witcher. The show, which first premiered in 2019, serves as an adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name, which is itself an adaptation of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s best-selling fantasy book series. Though The Witcher managed to draw a lot of eyes upon release, due in large part to the success of similar fantasy projects such as Game of Thrones, public interest in the show seems to have waned in recent years. Today, many fans are uncertain of the show’s status, and questioning if the series has been unceremoniously cancelled by Netflix, and left without a proper ending like Glow, or The Santa Clarita Diet.
If you’re curious about the future of the Witcher series, be sure to read ahead, as we’re outlining exactly what’s next for the Netflix fantasy show. We’ll discuss a few behind-the-scenes details in order to understand exactly what went wrong with the project, and look ahead to the future of the franchise as well. If you’re not up to date on the narrative, don’t be afraid to read ahead with reckless abandon, since we won’t actually be spoiling any plot details. With no further preamble let’s dive right in, and unpack the fate of The Witcher on Netflix.
Is ‘The Witcher’ Cancelled?
Though it may come as a surprise for many fans, The Witcher has actually not been cancelled. Fans have begun to assume that Netflix has given the series the axe recently, since no news or behind-the-scenes footage of the forthcoming season has surfaced online for over a year. The last time Netflix discussed The Witcher with the public was in April 2024, when it was announced that the series was renewed for a fifth and final season. Despite this renewal notice, no word has been given regarding the release date for seasons four and five. At this point in time, the last new material fans have seen regarding the show arrived in June and July of 2023, with the two-part release of The Witcher season three.
This means that it’s been nearly two full years since we’ve had a scene with Geralt of Riveria and his coterie of medieval cohorts. To make matters worse, several behind-the-scenes issues have plagued The Witcher‘s production, including a significant casting shakeup that will see Geralt portrayed by another man in upcoming episodes.
Why Did Henry Cavill Quit ‘The Witcher’?
For fans of the show, one of The Witcher‘s main draws was a leading performance from Superman actor Henry Cavill. Besides being a noted fan of the source material, the 41-year-old is an avid gamer with a high-spec gaming PC, making him an ideal fit for the lead role. During a 2023 discussion with Variety, Cavill’s costar Anya Chalotra gushed about his passion for the project, explaining, “It’s a breath of fresh air to have someone to work with that loves the material. It really is. Because he knows more than anyone about the world of The Witcher, and all the rules and regulations and the terms and Witcher knowledge – he’s up there. So to work with that, it’s a blessing because there are days when you might disbelieve the world a little bit more than the next. And he’s there to go, ‘Hang on, we’ve got this.’”
Given that Cavill was such an integral element to The Witcher‘s success, it was a major surprise for audiences everywhere when he announced that he would be departing the role after season three, with Liam Hemsworth taking on the mantle in his stead. While Cavill remained highly professional in his departure, fans and Hollywood insiders have cast widespread speculation that the actor was frustrated with the direction the show was headed. Apparently the producers at Netflix intended to stray further from the source material, in stark contrast to Cavill’s reverence for Sapkowski’s work.
Series writer Beau DeMayo confirmed this speculation during a discussion with The Direct, stating, “I’ve been on shows – namely Witcher – where some of the writers were not [fans] or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material.) It’s a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos, and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.” DeMayo has also departed The Witcher‘s writing staff, so things aren’t necessarily looking good for seasons four and five.
What Are the Fans Saying?
Even before The Witcher went completely off the rails with casting drama, extended hiatuses, and rumors of cancellation, fans had noted a decline in overall quality. A glimpse at the respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of each season will demonstrate a massive downward drop from general audiences. Season one of The Witcher boasts an 88 percent score on the Popcornmeter, while season two dips down to 54 percent, and season three reaches a paltry 19 percent. In a scathing review for Forbes, senior gaming contributor Erik Kain said of the series, “The Witcher is over. It’s dead. Frankly, it died at the end of season one. What we’ve been watching since is merely the reanimated corpse of a show that once had so much potential, and is now just a withered husk; some fell beast Geralt will slaughter once and for all, not by fighting it, but by walking away.”
These sentiments seem to be shared by fans across multiple online communities, including the subreddit r/Witcher, which routinely hosts discussion threads parsing through what went wrong with the Netflix adaptation, and where the franchise can progress from here. While the general consensus seems to be that the series started off on a high note, most viewers tend to lose faith in the show somewhere between the second and third seasons. Some still have hope for the remaining installments with Liam Hemsworth in the title role, though these fans are few and far between.
What’s Next for the ‘Witcher’ Franchise?
As stated, The Witcher is currently renewed for two more seasons at Netflix, with Liam Hemsworth as the new series lead. While the show clearly has a lot of fumbles to recover from, it’s certainly not too late for these final seasons to knock it out of the park. These are confirmed to adapt the narratives of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow and Lady of the Lake. If nothing else, the confirmation that these novels will serve as the basis for the story is a tacit agreement that the showrunners won’t be straying too far from the existing source material, as many fans have feared. Even still, it seems unlikely that the new outings will be so strong that The Witcher will be able to reel in droves of new fans, or even bring back those that they’ve lost.
In addition to the live-action series, The Witcher has also been adapted for a series of animated works at Netflix. A film centering on the origins of Geralt’s mentor and fellow Witcher Vesemir was released in 2021, under the title Nightmare of the Wolf. Though this animated outing has garnered a few negative reactions from Witcher super-fans, the general public seems to have really latched onto it, to the tune of a 100 percent certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. A live-action Witcher prequel series titled Blood Origin also premiered in 2022, though this outing has received more negative reactions than any of the other ventures mentioned here. The most recent iteration of the franchise landed just a few months ago, with the February 2025 film Sirens of the Deep.
Obviously, there’s no telling what exactly will happen to the Witcher IP moving forward. It seems that Netflix is struggling to meet the demands of fans, so it’s likely that the streamer will pull back their efforts to produce more content in the franchise after the series concludes. With any luck, maybe we’ll get a proper adaptation down the line. Of course, fans will likely be apprehensive for the foreseeable future, as they have been burned by the streamer across multiple projects and mediums.
