Why Fans Hated Netflix's The Witcher Season 3 Trailer (2024)

Fans hated The Witcher season 3 trailer. There are many reasons The Witcher might be losing viewership this season, but even as the trailer came out, fans reacted with a stark backlash. Whether it’s Henry Cavill losing his role as Geralt, producers refusing to align closer to the source material, or Jaskier’s stupid haircut, it looks like season 3 of The Witcher will have a lot of work to do if it wants to retain viewers.

The Witcher was an easy choice for Netflix to develop. The short stories and novels from Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski had been a great hit overseas, and the videogame series exploded when The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released. After two popular seasons on Netflix and a few hit-or-miss spin-off projects, the franchise might lose a large chunk of its fans with season 3.

The first season of The Witcher premiered to great acclaim, but the second season faltered when writers diverged from the source material. Series creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has continually reassured fans that season 3 will align closer to the source material, but the problem of pleasing their fans may have been compounded by Henry Cavill’s dismissal. The trailer doesn’t necessarily look bad, but it will be a high mountain to climb if The Witcher wants to keep everyone happy.

The Witcher’s Battle with Source Material

The Witcher has always tried to follow Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. But the writers building the franchise haven’t done a great job of it since season one. That is to say, Sapkowski’s novels and stories have remained the scaffolding upon which this Netflix series is built. But those involved must be thirsty enough for profit that they try to expand the lore themselves with disappointing miniseries like Blood Origin and end up offending their viewership.

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It's happened time and again with literature that’s been adapted into movies and TV. In the case of The Witcher, creators have tried to craft it as an action series, which is a little different from the books. Many of the novels are driven by dialogue and character development, but creators of the TV series naturally want a fight in every episode. Season two of The Witcher displeased many hardcore fans by deviating from the novels specifically to create more violence. It seemed to please many people, but difficulties always arise when you leave the source material behind.

Season one of The Witcher was so popular due to the publicity it received from its videogame counterpart. And much of that popularity was expanded with the type of storytelling the season gave its fans. Season one focused on adapting many of the short stories, Sapkowski’s original work.

But the nature of these stories complicated the TV show. Fans of the series will remember that season one was told with a nonlinear narrative. Some people found it hard to follow, but on the whole, viewers enjoyed the show. When the story was told with a linear narrative in season two, some fans were relieved, but others found the change untrue to the literature.

But perhaps the worst thing any franchise could do to its source material is attempt to write more of it. The miniseries The Witcher: Blood Origin, though it was incredibly cast with the incomparable Michelle Yeoh, tried to write a new prequel for The Witcher series. Worse than that, it did so poorly. The plot was substandard, and viewers were sold action in place of wonder. Given how the franchise has been treated so far, fans are naturally worried they’ll be presented with more of the same in season three of The Witcher.

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Replacing Henry Cavill Was the Last Straw

Of course, satiating fans’ desire for a story-driven series that is truthful to the books may not be enough anymore. Twice now in Cavill’s career, he has proved that he has the fans on his side. There was quite an uproar when he announced that Liam Hemsworth would replace him as Geralt of Rivia. Fans were so disappointed that some even called for a boycott of season 4 of the show. Viewers will likely stick with the show for season 3 if only because Henry Cavill is still on the screen, but the show’s creators will have to do better than fixing the series’ problems if it wants to keep viewers.

Henry Cavill creates a cult attraction to The Witcher series. And once that boost is gone, creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich will have to rely on something else to draw in fans. Fixing the problems with the show won’t be enough. She’ll have to give hardcore fans the attachment to the source material that they want and go a step further by delivering it with a tantalizing appeal. But by the looks of the season 3 trailer, all we’ll get is more action.