The Witcher franchise on Netflix looks to be coming to an end, as the main show is wrapping up and spin-offs are being scrapped
Netflix was building up their series The Witcher, which is inspired by a series of novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, to be a major franchise. In addition to the flagship show, they made the anime film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf and a prequel mini-series called The Witcher: Blood Origin, with another anime movie called The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep and a couple other spin-offs in the works… but now it looks like it’s all winding down. As The Witcher season 4 heads into production with Liam Hemsworth taking over the role of Geralt of Rivia from former star Henry Cavill, Netflix has announced that season 5 will be the end of the show. And while The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is still expected to be released through the streaming service by the end of 2024, Redanian Intelligence and What’s on Netflix have learned that two other spin-offs, one called The Rats and another a show that would have been aimed at younger viewers, have been scrapped.
Created by The Witcher writer Haily Hall, The Rats would have consisted of six to eight episodes centering on a group of teenage misfits who crossed paths with Ciri in The Witcher season 3. The show had the following synopsis: Six teenage thieves must rely on their criminal skills as they plan the biggest heist of their careers against the most dangerous crime ring in the kingdom.
The Rats started filming in May of 2023 with The Sandman and Shadow & Bone director Mairzee Almas at the helm. Production was supposed to last for six months, but got shut down after two. According to Redanian Intelligence, The Rats filmed one or two episodes before the production shutdown, and when Netflix got a look at the footage they decided not to go through with filming the remaining episodes. The teenage characters will be appearing in The Witcher season 4, and there’s a chance footage from the abandoned The Rats project could be integrated into the show.
The cast of The Rats included Ben Radcliffe (Giselher), Christelle Elwin (Mistle), Fabian McCallum (Kayleigh), Aggy K. Adams (Iskra), Juliette Alexandra (Reef), Connor Crawford (Asse), Dolph Lundgren (Brehen), Deoudone van der Merwe (Juniper), Morgan Santo (Dulcie), and Stevel Marc (Lord Ridot).
The other spin-off, the untitled kids series was announced in 2021, and we don’t know much about it other than it appears to have been permanently shelved. So as of right now, it looks like The Witcher franchise on Netflix is going to end with seasons 4 and 5 of the show, with The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep being the final spin-off.
What do you think of The Witcher franchise coming to an end? Are you hoping to see more spin-offs in the future? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/witcher-spin-offs/
