Netflix has recently announced that there will be an animated tale expanding on the history and lore of The Witcher before we ever see The Witcher season 4. The animated adventure, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, boasts that the beloved voice actor of Geralt of Rivia for CDProjekt Red’s The Witcher games will return, and it seems that Netflix is hoping that this will bring fans back to the franchise.
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Season 4 Doomed From The Beginning
There has been much controversy surrounding The Witcher franchise on Netflix since it was announced that Henry Cavill, who many consider the face of Geralt of Rivia, wouldn’t be reprising his role for the fourth season of the popular live-action Netflix adaptation.
While he has left the franchise pretty amicably, he announced that he would be laying down his swords as Geralt after the third season and that Liam Hemsworth would take over for the fourth. This caused ratings to fall almost immediately, with many fans saying they wouldn’t return to watch season 4.
This was also shortly before James Gunn, Henry Cavill, and the DCU announced that Cavill wouldn’t be returning as Man of Steel either, so the internet was heartbroken that their golden boy wouldn’t be returning to two of his most famous roles.
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Introducing The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep
On the 11th of November, Netflix released an official announcement video and an official teaser trailer to their YouTube channel, announcing to fans that The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep would be coming to the streaming platform sometime in 2024. Considering we still don’t have a release window for the fourth season of the live-action adaption, it’s likely that we will see this before the next instalment of the series.
The announcement trailer looks gloomy and stunning, showing the beautiful glowing eyes of Geralt and the flat Witcher medallion from the live-action adaptation before we get to hear the gruff and well-known voice of Doug Cockle coming from Geralt’s lips, the voice of the original actor for all three instalments of the video game series.
The teaser trailer shows some epic underwater scenes as Geralt fights aquatic monsters and shows him interacting with mermaids deep within the oceans of The Continent.
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Polygon shared that the animated adventure would be an adaptation of the original The Witcher short story A Little Sacrifice which details an adventure wherein Geralt and Dandelion (the original name of Jaskier in the books) travel to the depths to speak to a mermaid on behalf of a prince who has fallen in love, or fallen under her spell. This instalment of the franchise would be animated by Studio Mir, the same animation studio that gave us Avatar: Legend of Korra.
Can Sirens of the Deep Save Netflix’s The Witcher?
Although Sirens of the Deep doesn’t give the fans what they want, the return of their beloved Henry Cavill in any form possible facilitates the return of Doug Cockle to the role. Cockle is famously known for being the voice of Geralt in CDProjekt Red’s The Witcher game series, which is loved worldwide for being one of the best adaptations of the book series yet.
As much as Henry Cavill was the face of Geralt, even he was inspired by the iconic voice work of Cockle in the games to bring the role to life. By returning to the Netflix franchise, Cockle could save the franchise.
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Of course, this could also spell the beginning of the end for the live-action series. Suppose the presence of Cockle is what indeed rescues the franchise. What’s stopping Netflix from scrapping the live-action adaptation and sticking with the animated version?
Only time will tell what kind of lasting effect The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep will have on the franchise. However, fans seem happier to return for the short adventure but are still adamant about boycotting season 4.
TL;DR
- Netflix has just announced that the story of The Witcher will continue with The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep.
- After all the issues fans have had with the live-action adaptation’s fourth season, it seems like Netflix might be trying to rescue The Witcher.
- With the video game’s voice actor returning for the animation, Netflix might have a chance of saving the franchise.