With the Netflix adaptation of The Witcher getting a new season next year, the show will have the opportunity to change things up from its first season. Despite its popularity as Netflix’s most popular new show of 2019, it hasn’t gone without some criticisms from fans in the past month. Not all of these criticisms will likely be fixed, but the show’s creators will be addressing some of the more serious issues people have had with it.
Showrunner Lauren Hissrich touched upon some of the changes season 2 will bring this week. On the podcast Writer Experience, she shared a number of details regarding the process of bringing the show to life, as well as the current production schedule for season 2. In the process, she revealed one thing that will be different in The Witcher’s next season: the armor worn by the Nilfgaardian soldiers.
This has actually been one of the biggest points of contention among fans. For the Netflix series, the writers decided to give the Nilfgaardians wrinkly and monotone armor designed to give a mass-produced feel. The result, while certainly distinct, has widely been met with criticism by those who feel it's a downgrade from the cleaner black and gold armor worn by the Nilfgaardians in CD Projekt RED’s Witcher games, which fans are more familiar with.
As a result of the poor reception, Hissrich confirmed that the armor is being taken back to the drawing board and will be “totally different” in season 2. Exactly how wasn’t specified, but the fact that the show’s creators are even bothering show they are trying to give the fans what they want. Combined with the fact that The Witcher season 2 will have a less confusing timeline than season 1, it’s clear that they don’t just want to coast on the show’s current success and actually want to make it better as they go.
“Everything about The Witcher has been a real learning process for me,” Hissrich said in acknowledging the first season’s shortcomings. “It’s the beauty of being able to do this for the first time and then get to come back and do it again... Season two is exciting. It’s a chance to look at the mistakes we’ve made in season one and do it better, tell stories better, improve some things, look at what didn’t work, get rid of it and start over.”
Whether this will comfort fans who’ve taken issue with the more noticeable changes The Witcher has made from previous iterations will remain to be seen, but with more than a year to go before season 2 finally drops, there’s time still for Hissrich and the rest of the show’s crew to figure out how best to continue the story season 1 started while remaining faithful to the source material.
The Witcher is available on Netflix. Season 2 is set to premiere in 2021.
Source: Writer Experience