'The Witcher: Blood Origin' Release Date, More Details Revealed at Netflix TUDUM Event

09/24/2022 02:15 pm EDT

Netflix hosted another TUDUM virtual fan event on Saturday, and The Witcher franchise was arguably the main event. The burgeoning fantasy franchise got a three-minute segment to introduce the cast and the plot line of The Witcher: Blood Origin. After months without any news on this highly-anticipated prequel, this was a huge boon to fans.

The Blood Origin segment revealed a new main cast member in the series – Minnie Driver, who did not disclose any details on her character. It also included interviews with cast members Sophia Brown, Laurence O'Fuarain and Michelle Yeoh. It gave a few glimpses of their characters in action, but no true teaser or trailer. However, Yeoh got to deliver the biggest news of all – The Witcher: Blood Origin will premiere on Dec. 25, 2022.

Fans were ecstatic to have some news on Blood Origin after months of radio silence, though the December premiere date was a disappointment to some. Netflix had previously announced that Blood Origin would premiere sometime in 2022, and fans had hoped it would show up earlier in the year leaving the December time slot open for The Witcher Season 3. At this rate, that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

The Witcher premiered in December of 2019 and was arguably the first new fantasy show to capitalize on the momentum the genre had gotten from the end of Game of Thrones. The new series was successful and Netflix began to lay plans for a wider franchise, but sadly the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed its rollout. However, it sounds like we will finally start to see it expanding in scope over the next few months.

Like many of the other fantasy series in the works right now, The Witcher is taking some creative liberties in its adaptation process that are controversial among fans. The main series is adapting Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher Saga books with relatively few changes, but all of the other shows

Right now, you can stream The Witcher Seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix, as well as the animated prequel film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. The Witcher video games are available on various platforms now, and Sapkowski's Witcher Saga books are available in print, digital and audiobook formats. The Witcher: Blood Origin will premiere on Dec. 25, 2022 on Netflix.

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