The first season of The Witcher was a massive success and fans have been patiently waiting for the next season after several delays. Finally, the second season of The Witcher has wrapped filming, and Netflix has shared a short video providing a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the season to come.
Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich narrates the clip, emphasizing what a massive undertaking filming season two of The Witcher had been. "It's hard to believe it's been over a year since we kicked off this season, in typical Witcher fashion, in a freezing cold forest in the middle of the night," she says, "Since then, we've shot for 158 days, with at least one unit, sometimes two, sometimes three, all while decked out in face shields, and face masks, and goggles, and slathered in hand sanitizer. We shot in 15 locations, with over 89 cast members, and over 1200 different crew members, all bringing their craft to life."
Hissrich continues by saying that she cannot wait for fans to see what is in store for their favorite characters. She also mentions new characters, storylines, and monsters to come, especially as the show will be getting into the third book in the series written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Her speaking parts are interspersed with clips of the wrap day as well as of the main actors on set, including star Henry Cavill, who had gifted items to crew to thank them for the efforts over the course of the often-delayed production. These items included memorabilia signed by Cavill himself.
As Hissrich mentioned in the video, season two of The Witcher will be adding several new characters. Netflix recently revealed some of the new cast members and characters that will be introduced, including Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh and Outlander star Graham McTavish. Additionally, leaked set images to reveal armored riders, rumored to be the Wild Hunt, who are significant antagonists for Geralt in both The Witcher books and games. These images and details can provide a bit of a hint at the season to come.
Although they began production in early 2020, the filming of season two of The Witcher was paused due to COVID-19 restrictions. Filming resumed in August 2020, now with added precautions such as the face masks and shields visible in the behind-the-scenes video, all required in order to minimize the chances of a COVID-19 outbreak among the cast and crew. Despite these safety protocols, the shooting was delayed twice more; once due to crew members testing positive for COVID-19, and the second time due to Cavill suffering an injury while filming.
After all the delays, fans will be overjoyed to see that filming has finally ended. While waiting for post-production to be completed, fans can hope that the animated prequel, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, comes to Netflix in the meantime. Set to be released sometime in 2021, the film will award fans with one hour and twenty-one minutes of animated witchers.
The Witcher season one is now available on Netflix.
Source: Netflix | YouTube