Skip to main content

Forget Game of Thrones. The first trailer for Netflix’s The Witcher is here

The Witcher | Official Teaser | Netflix

Step aside, Jon Snow. Geralt has arrived.

Netflix has dropped the first trailer for The Witcher, the streaming service’s long-awaited adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy novels. The short video, which debuted at the 2019 edition of Comic-Con International, offers fans their first look at Henry Cavill as the title character, Geralt of Rivia, and quickly establishes the rules of The Witcher‘s monster-filled world.

As the trailer describes, elves and humans used to live in harmony in The Witcher‘s fantasy realm, known as The Continent, until the elves decided to teach humanity how to use magic — a favor that men repaid by killing the elves off. Now, monsters roam the land, and monster hunters called Witchers must take them down to keep the people safe.

In addition to Cavill’s Geralt, the trailer also features Anya Chalotra as Yennifer, a powerful sorceress and Geralt’s longtime girlfriend, and Freya Allan as Princess Ciri. From the look of things, The Witcher‘s first season will hew pretty closely to the plot summary leaked in casting notices, which claimed that the three characters will be “bound together by destiny, often against their will,” as  Geralt and Yennifer realize that Ciri “might just destroy the world.”

Netflix’s series will probably draw less on the novels’ video game spinoffs, which helped transform The Witcher from a niche European fantasy series into a worldwide phenomenon. While The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt claimed many Game of the Year awards following its 2015 release, the books, which take place earlier, are the series’ primary source material.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Witcher producer Lauren Hissrich downplayed the show’s similarities to Game of Thrones, although she acknowledged that HBO’s megahit helped pave the way for the new series. “Game of Thrones … showed the world that fantasy wasn’t just for a niche audience and fantasy could be acceptable for everyone,” Hissrich said.

Still, it’s hard not to see some similarities between the two. Like Game of Thrones, The Witcher takes place in a dark, grimy land where humans are just as dangerous as supernatural creatures, and where prophecies and spells collide with politics and social upheaval. Still, there’s one big difference: Game of Thrones only had White Walkers, a few giants, and a trio of dragons, while The Witcher is chock-full of monsters. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Editors' Recommendations

Chris Gates
Contributor
Christopher Gates lives in Los Angeles, CA and writes about movies, TV, video games, and other pop culture curiosities. In…
Bodies is one of Netflix’s most popular shows right now. Here’s why you should watch it
Shira Haas in Bodies.

Bodies | Official Trailer | Netflix

Just over week after it premiered, the new sci-fi series Bodies is among the most popular shows on Netflix. The series is based on the 2014 Bodies comic by writer Si Spencer and artists Dean Ormston, Tula Lotay, Meghan Hetrick, and Phil Winslade. But don't worry about needing to catch up on your reading. Everything you need to know is in the show itself.

Read more
Creature is Netflix’s most underrated horror series right now. Here’s why you should watch it
Taner Ölmez and Erkan Kolçak Köstendil in Creature.

Halloween isn't for another week, but Netflix already has another treat for horror lovers. Creature, the new Turkish horror miniseries, has premiered on the 10 most popular shows on Netflix. It stars Taner Ölmez as Ziya, an idealistic young doctor whose determination to defeat death results in the creation of his own Creature (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil).

If you think that sounds like the plot of Mary Shelley's famous novel, Frankenstein, then you're not wrong. Çağan Irmak has put his own personal touches on the story that is at once familiar and different. And we've got three reasons why you should watch Creature this Halloween. We also have a viewing tip: Watch it in the original Turkish language with subtitles. The English dub isn't as convincing as the native tongue from the original.
A fresh coat of paint on a classic tale

Read more
His House is the scariest movie on Netflix right now. Here’s why you should watch it
Sope Dirisu in His House.

It's the Halloween season, and fans are looking for the best horror movies on Netflix. While there are some great horror flicks on Netflix, like Get Out, we want to narrow things down to the scariest movie on Netflix. Our pick is a little known film called His House, from first-time director Remi Weekes.

Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku star as a married couple, Bol and Rial, who have escaped the war in their native Sudan to find refuge in the U.K. Unfortunately, the couple's new lives aren't all they hoped for, and something evil has followed them into their home. It's a haunting experience that feels like a breath of fresh air for the genre. It's not a typical jump-scare horror movie, and some of its horrors are all too real.

Read more