After the first season of The Witcher became a knockout hit for Netflix when it stormed onto the streaming service in December 2019, fans of the Henry Cavill monster-hunting series were already eager for a second season, which is on its way. Eventually.
However, even the most die-hard enthusiasts of the fantasy epic struggled with the choice to slowly reveal that the show was operating on three separate timelines while introducing the characters of Geralt (Cavill), Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and Ciri (Freya Allan). While showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich stands by the story-making decision and is surprised by how controversial it became, she recently told The Wrap that the timeline will be more linear in the second season with everyone on the same timeline:
“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. Because, if you can imagine, if we were in three different timelines (in Season 1) and then flashed forward or flashed back, we would have been in four or five or six timelines — even I know that’s too much. So I think it will be a lot easier for the audience follow and understand, especially a new audience coming in. But there are still going to be some fun challenges with time.”
Due to its filming location in the UK, The Witcher was one of the first shows to shut down production as the global pandemic began to spread. To complicate matters even further, new cast member Kristofer Hijvu (Game of Thrones) tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, Hijvu made a full recovery, although we don’t know if any other cast or crew members were infected. According to Hissrich, the show is hoping to resume filming on season two this summer, but it will all come down to making the safest possible decisions for the cast, crew, and local residents.
(Via The Wrap)