'No One Is Taking the Books Away. No One Is Taking the Video Games Away' — The Witcher Showrunner Responds to Backlash to Netflix Show

The Witcher Season 4 is upon us, and arsenic fans know, the bid has strayed distant somewhat from the books upon which it is based, which has sparked a backlash among immoderate fans.

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich, however, has defended the attack taken for The Netflix show, which replaced Henry Cavill with Liam Hemsworth pursuing the erstwhile Superman actor’s exit astatine the extremity of Season 3.

In an interrogation with Dexerto, Schmidt-Hissrich insisted that the Netflix amusement exists successful summation to the books and CD Projekt’s much-loved video games, which inactive beryllium for fans to enjoy.

“You person publication fans, you person video crippled fans, and past you person fans that knew thing astir this satellite until the amusement existed,” she said. “And the information is we can’t take 1 audience. We person to retrieve what we are doing, which is simply a tv show.

“It is antithetic than immoderate different genre successful immoderate different signifier that you could archer this story, and we person to marque the choices for that. We person 8 hours each play to archer these stories, and we’re ne'er going to beryllium capable to archer everything from the books.

“I besides deliberation that determination person to beryllium changes that you marque for adaptation conscionable to marque this communicative support going forward. Season 1’s the cleanable example. Obviously we leaned into the 2 books of abbreviated stories, but you can’t conscionable archer unrelated adventures successful a play of television.

(L-R) Laurence Fishburne, Freya Allan, Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich, Liam Hemsworth, Anya Chalotra, and Joey Batey astatine the The Witcher Season 4 premiere successful London, England. Photo by Neil Mockford/Getty Images.

“You person to commencement to weave them together. You person to recognize however these adventures pb our characters to beryllium wherever they are meant to be. And truthful we had to commencement crafting… astatine that constituent it was connective tissue.

“We besides person the privilege of knowing erstwhile we’re ending. Netflix picked up Season 4 and Season 5 astatine the aforesaid time, truthful we besides had to constitute ourselves to that peculiar ending. So again, you marque choices.

“One of the things that I’ve talked a batch to the writer astir and a batch to fans astir is that the books inactive exist. No 1 is taking the books away. No 1 is taking the video games away. I deliberation everyone tin person their mentation of The Witcher and this is this version.”

It besides sounds similar Schmidt-Hissrich volition measurement backmost from The Witcher aft Season 5 is done and dusted. Also speaking to Dexerto, she insisted the amusement would not determination past Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, truthful Season 5 truly is it.

“By the clip we wrapper Season 5 fully, it volition person been 9 years of my life,” Schmidt-Hissrich said. “I deliberation determination are truthful galore much stories to beryllium told successful The Witcher universe, truly.  But I besides deliberation you person to measurement backmost and judge gracefully, what is the extremity of this communicative that we’ve been telling?

“Are determination much stories? Maybe. But this 1 has to extremity astatine this point, truthful I deliberation it’s a bully clip for each of america to measurement backmost a small bit.”

IGN’s The Witcher: Season 4 Review returned a 7/10. We said: “Even with the Cavill/Hemsworth shake-up, The Witcher sticks to its guns (er, swords) and delivers a decent play of magic and mayhem.”

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].