Posted in: Netflix, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV, YouTube | Tagged: Andrzej Sapkowski, Ciri, Declan deBarra, Geralt, jaskier, Lauren S Hissrich, prequel, spinoff, the witcher, the witcher blood origin, witchers, Yennefer

The Witcher: Blood Origin EP Declan de Barra Updates Spinoff Prequel

It would be safe to say that things have gone pretty well over in The Witcher part of the Netflix universe, with series showrunner and executive producer Lauren S. Hissrich and her team grinding away on season 2 production. Along the way, fans have gotten preview images of Henry Cavill's Geralt, Anya Chalotra's Yennefer, and Freya Allan's Ciri, as well as a sneak preview of one or two "interesting" characters for Halloween. But what about The Witcher: Blood Origin? While we would never forget about the highly-anticipated spinoff prequel series, we almost missed this bit of good news on Halloween from executive producer and showrunner Declan de Barra. Taking to Twitter, de Barra announced that the first episode was officially "off the board" and that the writing team was "off to outline or script."

Here's a look at de Barra's tweet, making it one down and five to go in the 6-part, live-action series- and it's pretty clear that someone's happy with how things are going:

Here's a look back to when de Barra first introduced the writing team: Kirsten Van Horn, Alex Meenehan, Tania Lothia, Troy Dangerfield, Pooja Gupta, Tasha Huo, and Aaron Stewart-Ahn. Following that, we continue our trip down memory lane with a look at when the prequel series was first announced:

In late July, the streaming service announced the popular fantasy drama was spinning-off a new series set to take place "120 years before Geralt of Rivia" entered the scene, during a time when "the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged into one, and the first Witcher came to be." DeBarra serves as executive producer and showrunner while Hissrich executive produces and author Andrzej Sapkowski serving as a creative consultant.

Hissrich took to Twitter immediately when the news first broke to express her excitement over the opportunity to tell more of the franchise's history alongside deBarra and (confirmed by Hissrish though it wasn't included in Netflix's tweet) Sapkowski:

Based on the best-selling fantasy series of books, THE WITCHER is an epic tale of fate and family. The story of the intertwined destinies of three individuals in the vast world of The Continent, where humans, elves, witchers, gnomes, and monsters battle to survive and thrive, and where good and evil is not easily identified.

Convinced Yennefer's life was lost at the Battle of Sodden, Geralt of Rivia brings Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen. While the Continent's kings, elves, humans and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside.

Netflix's The Witcher season 2 welcomes Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) as Nivellen, Kim Bodnia (Killing Eve) as Vesemir, Yasen Atour (Young Wallender) as Coen, Agnes Bjorn as Vereena, Paul Bullion (Peaky Blinders) as Lambert, Aisha Fabienne Ross (The Danish Girl) as Lydia, and newcomer Mecia Simson as Francesca. Stephen Surjik (Netflix's The Umbrella Academy) has been tapped to direct the season's first two episodes, with Sarah O'Gorman (Cursed) directing the third and fourth episodes, Ed Bazalgette (The Last Kingdom) directing the 5th and 8th episodes, and Geeta Patel (Meet the Patels) will direct the 6th and 7th episodes.

Netflix's The Witcher stars Henry Cavill (Justice League), Anya Chalotra (The ABC Murders) as Yennefer, Freya Allan (The Third Day) as Ciri, MyAnna Buring (Kill List) as Tissaia, Tom Canton (Good Karma Hospital) as Filavandrel, Lilly Cooper (Peterloo) as Murta, Basil Eidenbenz (Victoria) as Eskel, Jeremy Crawford (Titans) as Yarpin Zigrin, Eamon Farren (Twin Peaks) as Cahir, Mahesh Jadu (Marco Polo) as Vilgefortz, Terence Maynard (Cursed) as Artorius, Lars Mikkelson (House of Cards) as Stregobor, Mimi Ndiweni (Black Earth Rising) as Fringilla Vigo, Royce Pierreson (Judy) as Istredd, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte (Hunter Street) as Dara, Anna Shaffer (Harry Potter) as Triss Merigold, and Therica Wilson Read (Young Wallender) as Sabrina.

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