The Witcher Showrunner Teases the Arrival of Vesemir in Season 2

In a recent interview with The Wrap, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has finally opened up about the upcoming second season of Netflix’s hit fantasy series The Witcher, confirming that the new season won’t be told through multiple timelines anymore which was something that some fans didn’t like in the first season.

“Obviously, it was one of the most controversial parts of Season 1 and I didn’t expect it to be as controversial as it was. But it’s something I still stand behind, in terms of storytelling,” Hissrich said. “…What’s great though is they have intersected now. So what we’ll see in Season 2 is that all of our characters are existing on the same timeline. What that allows us to do storywise though is to play with time in slightly different ways. We get to do flashbacks, we get to do flash-forwards, we get to actually integrate time in a completely different way that we weren’t able to do in Season 1. “

In addition, Hissrich has also teased the arrival of new characters, most especially the addition of other Witchers led by Kim Bodnia’s Vesemir, who is known as Geralt’s father figure. She also explained the importance of introducing them to the second season which will allow viewers to understand more about Geralt’s whole character and background.

“Probably my favorite additions for Season 2 are the new witchers,” Hissrich said. “Really, in Season 1, we got to know Geralt and he’s our prime example of a witcher. And then there is one other witcher, Remus, who we meet in Episode 103, who quickly dies (laughs). So it was, for us really, about getting Geralt back to his roots and sort of learning where he came from and what his story is and what his sense of family is.”

She added, “When I talk about ‘The Witcher,’ I always talk about how these three characters coming together — Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer — they come together as a family. It’s the most important part of the series for me. And when you start to imagine someone’s family, you also need to understand their family of origin. Sometimes that’s a mother and father, sometimes that’s blood relatives. For Geralt, it’s his brothers, it’s the brotherhood of the witchers. So I’m really excited to get back in and meet Vesemir, his father figure, for the first time and all of these men that he was raised with since he was seven years old.”

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The next season of The Witcher will feature Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) as Nivellen and Kim Bodnia (Killing Eve) as Vesemir. Six other actors have also been cast for Season 2 including  Paul Bullion (Peaky Blinders) as the witcher Lambert; Yasen Atour (Young Wallender) as Coën, a witcher from Poviss; Agnes Bjorn as Vereena, a powerful bruxa; Thue Ersted Rasmussen (Fast and Furious 9) as Eskel, Geralt’s friend from his youth; Aisha Fabienne Ross (The Danish Girl) as Lydia, a sorceress; and Mecia Simson (Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model) as the preternaturally beautiful elf Francesca.

Based on the best-selling fantasy series, The Witcher is an epic tale of fate and family. Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.

The series stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Freya Allan as Princess Ciri, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, MyAnna Buring as Tissaia, and Joey Batey as Jaskier. Season 2 will also feature the return of Tom Canton as Filavandrel, Lilly Cooper as Murta, Jeremy Crawford as Yarpin Zigrin, Eamon Farren as Cahir, Mahesh Jadu as Vilgefortz, Terence Maynard as Artorius, Lars Mikkelson as Stregobor, Mimi Ndiweni as Fringilla Vigo, Royce Pierrseson as Istredd, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte as Dara, Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold, and Therica Wilson Read as Sabrina.

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The Witcher series for Netflix is based on the stories and novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, of which there are eight, which themselves formulated the popular Witcher games franchise which has since spawned a comic book series and a tabletop game. The book series was previously adapted for television in Poland.

Schmidt Hissrich serves as executive producer and showrunner for The Witcher. She’s known for her work (writing and co-executive producing) on The Defenders, Daredevil, and Power. Sean Daniel is set to executive produce under the Sean Daniel Company with his partner Jason Brown. Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko of Platige Image are also executive producers as well.

All eight episodes of the first season are already available for streaming on Netflix.