The Witcher showrunner reveals Geralt of Rivia needed to ‘question everything’ for explosive start to fantasy drama
The Witcher showrunner has revealed how Geralt of Rivia needed to 'question everything' to create an explosive start to the Netflix fantasy drama.
The series premieres on the streaming service next week, and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich - creator, showrunner and executive producer - has given fans an idea of what they can expect from it.
Lauren explained how the series starts with an adaptation of short stories from author Andrzej Sapkowski's compilation called The Last Wish, rather than the first novel in his five-book saga.
Speaking to , she said: "The series opens up on 'The Lesser Evil,' which was my personal favourite story.
"I didn't choose to start the series with it because it was my favourite, but that just was lucky.
"When you're choosing a story to sort of kick off an entire series, for me, Geralt really rises to the top in Episode 1.
"He is our main character, he is the one that we really need to understand. He's our introduction to the world of The Witcher.
"And he's been a witcher for almost a hundred years by this point, and it's all he knows, it's all he does, and he's very comfortable with that.
"So what you're looking for when choosing which short story to go with, you're looking for an event that's going to change his journey.
"You're looking for something that's going to make him question everything that's happened before in his life. And that's why I chose 'The Lesser Evil.'"
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Henry Cavill plays Geralt in the series, a supernatural monster hunter, while the story will also focus on sorceress Yennefer and princess Ciri.
Lauren explained that starting with the short stories gives viewers a chance to watch the three characters develop over time, with the hope of numerous seasons to come.
She added: "It's funny, because I said in an interview that I could write seven seasons.
"I also said I'm sure later that day I could write twenty seasons if given the opportunity.
"I could keep writing the show for a very long time. As long as people are interested in it and as long the source material is there to organically build from.
The Witcher premieres on Netflix on Friday, December 20.
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