Netflix confirms rumors of a Witcher anime written by series co-producer Beau DeMayo

[Cal Jeffrey]

My quick two cents: I happen to be a big fan of The Witcher games. I also enjoyed the first season of the live-action series and thought Netflix did a good job with it. Now that an anime has been confirmed, I'm beginning to get nervous that the franchise will get run into the ground.

On Wednesday, Netflix tweeted that it has a new anime film in the works based on The Witcher franchise. The announcement was short on details, only saying that it is being produced by Korean anime house Studio Mir and would feature “a new threat facing the Continent.”

The rumors are true, a new Witcher story is in the works! The anime film, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, will take us back to a new threat facing the Continent. Brought to you by the Witcher team @LHissrich and @BeauDeMayo, and Studio Mir the studio behind Legend of Korra.

— NX (@NXOnNetflix) January 22, 2020

Rumors of the spinoff called The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, surfaced in the fanzine Renadian Intelligence even before Netflix’s live-action series debuted last December. A Writers Guild of America posting back in October listed a screenplay written by Beau DeMayo based on The Witcher novels. DeMayo had written one episode in Season 1 of The Witcher and is slated for a few more in Season 2, but the WGA post listed this screenplay as a film indicating it was not related to the series.

Part of Netflix’s The Witcher team will be involved in producing the anime, including DeMayo and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. Studio Mir, maker of award-winning anime series The Legend of Korra, will head up the animation work.

The film’s arrival is not all that shocking despite having been leaked. The Witcher gained 76 million viewers in the first four weeks of its debut, leading to a spike in interest that has spanned multiple media. With such success and continued demand, some type of spinoff on the brand was practically inevitable.

Netflix does not yet have a release date to announce for Nightmare of the Wolf. It would be nice if the film aired sometime this year to tide fans over until the second season of the series arrives in 2021. However, don’t get your hopes up. Having posted the screenplay only three months ago, it is not likely the film will be finished by year's end.

Masthead credit: The Witcher by bikkimeel

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https://www.techspot.com/news/83667-netflix-confirms-rumors-witcher-anime-written-series-co.html

 

[Puiu]

It's definitely not too much or too soon. By the time this gets produced and released, if they don't hurry, all of the hype might just evaporate.

 

[Unusual Kmc]

An anime witcher series? Awesome!
Maybe they'll do a choose your own adventure style show as well

 

[mbrowne5061]

If it is the studio behind Korra (and the same staff for the most part - not just the studio name), then I am not worries. Yeah, LoK paled in comparison to LoA, but LoA set the bar VERY high for animated series across the board, and LoK is a solid series when you compare it to other animations outside of the Avatar franchise.

We'll have good fight scenes, and the story boarding will stay consistent. As long as they get the dialog and voice acting nailed down, you should see something solid. I just hope its intended for more mature audiences, and not targeted at a younger crowd.

 

[Evernessince]

If it is the studio behind Korra (and the same staff for the most part - not just the studio name), then I am not worries. Yeah, LoK paled in comparison to LoA, but LoA set the bar VERY high for animated series across the board, and LoK is a solid series when you compare it to other animations outside of the Avatar franchise.

We'll have good fight scenes, and the story boarding will stay consistent. As long as they get the dialog and voice acting nailed down, you should see something solid. I just hope its intended for more mature audiences, and not targeted at a younger crowd.

Studio Mir was only responsible for the animation, not the story. That's definitely a good thing given that after season 1, Korra's story is a complete dumpster fire. I'm a big fan of the original but I completely dropped korra.

 

[mbrowne5061]

Studio Mir was only responsible for the animation, not the story. That's definitely a good thing given that after season 1, Korra's story is a complete dumpster fire. I'm a big fan of the original but I completely dropped korra.

I have mixed feelings about the story, but mostly because I am strong believer that the antagonist makes the story.

Amon was a great villian
Unalaq was a trash villian
Zaheer was a pretty good villian - but suffered from a back story that really needed to be fleshed out more
Kuvira has potential to be built-up right from Season 2, and they blew it.

Broad stroke, I liked the ideas played with throughout the series, but their implementations needed a lot of work. That said, they did mostly successfully wrap up each season and the series overall without contradicting themselves (too much) or leaving glaring plot holes. Too many great animated series lately have just written themselves into a corner and panicked as they tried to wrap things up.

 

[Evernessince]

I have mixed feelings about the story, but mostly because I am strong believer that the antagonist makes the story.

Amon was a great villian
Unalaq was a trash villian
Zaheer was a pretty good villian - but suffered from a back story that really needed to be fleshed out more
Kuvira has potential to be built-up right from Season 2, and they blew it.

Broad stroke, I liked the ideas played with throughout the series, but their implementations needed a lot of work. That said, they did mostly successfully wrap up each season and the series overall without contradicting themselves (too much) or leaving glaring plot holes. Too many great animated series lately have just written themselves into a corner and panicked as they tried to wrap things up.

That's part of the problem with Korra, each season is mostly self-inclusive. There is no over-arching storyline like the original series. Each season feels almost completely self-contained. The structure of each season is also the same. Bad guy gets super powers, Avatar fights back but ultimately fails, bad guy almost achieves goal, some miracle happens and bad guy is defeated.

I really don't like how they completely dismiss how hard it is supposed to be to metal and lightning bend. In the original series only a single person could metal bend. If you watched the original then you also know that the requirement to do so was to have an unbend able will. Apparently that's everyone in korra. They completely bastardize lightning bending, where their power plants are powered by average people lightning bending. There were 3 people in the original series who could lightning bend and they were all firebending masters. Not novices and journeymen. Then you have Zaheer in Korra, who magically learns to fly 5 seconds after he magically obtains the ability to airbend (a complete novice). Mind you, no other airbender has been able to fly without a device. This is the point at which I stopped watching the show.

 

[mbrowne5061]

That's part of the problem with Korra, each season is mostly self-inclusive. There is no over-arching storyline like the original series. Each season feels almost completely self-contained. The structure of each season is also the same. Bad guy gets super powers, Avatar fights back but ultimately fails, bad guy almost achieves goal, some miracle happens and bad guy is defeated.

I really don't like how they completely dismiss how hard it is supposed to be to metal and lightning bend. In the original series only a single person could metal bend. If you watched the original then you also know that the requirement to do so was to have an unbend able will. Apparently that's everyone in korra. They completely bastardize lightning bending, where their power plants are powered by average people lightning bending. There were 3 people in the original series who could lightning bend and they were all firebending masters. Not novices and journeymen. Then you have Zaheer in Korra, who magically learns to fly 5 seconds after he magically obtains the ability to airbend (a complete novice). Mind you, no other airbender has been able to fly without a device. This is the point at which I stopped watching the show.

I always chalked up to 'everyone getting super bending' as being partly the result of greater access to information. The printing press exists now, so the material to learn these techniques is far more accessible than it was during the age of Aang. Metal bending wasn't the 'unbendable will' though - that was energy bending - everyone just assumed it was impossible because the earth benders who tried didn't look 'deep' enough to see the earth still inside of the metal. Lightning bending, if I recall correctly, was developed by Iroh by studying water bending techniques, so it kind of makes sense that at the time of Aang, his niece and nephew would probably be the only ones who would have even had a chance to learn it. Not to say that these forms should be easy, just that it aren't super rare gifts either.

Now, I get why Lava bending and pyrokinesis were actually rare. Earth bending is about being 'more stubborn than rock', and that usually means unmovable. With lava, its still pretty stubborn, but its liquid. I wouldn't be surprised with Bolin has some water bender ancestors to top of his earth and fire.

 

[Evernessince]

I always chalked up to 'everyone getting super bending' as being partly the result of greater access to information. The printing press exists now, so the material to learn these techniques is far more accessible than it was during the age of Aang. Metal bending wasn't the 'unbendable will' though - that was energy bending - everyone just assumed it was impossible because the earth benders who tried didn't look 'deep' enough to see the earth still inside of the metal.

Lightning bending and Metal Bending are not techniques you can simply learn. They require the person to have specific attributes. Hence why Zuko could not do it as noted by Iroh. The printing press excuse does not work and even if it did, it would be extremely bad writing. How exactly does one publish the essence of metal or fire bending? You don't. Like real martial arts, you are MUCH better off training first hand with someone. Basic techniques that have a physical movement like the water whip are ok to learn for a scroll (but still not optimal) but there lightning bending and metalbending are mostly mental.

You are thinking of an unbend-able spirit, not will, for energy bending. Earthbending is all about willpower and all the tests aang takes center around that. That's his worst category.

 

[mbrowne5061]

Lightning bending and Metal Bending are not techniques you can simply learn. They require the person to have specific attributes. Hence why Zuko could not do it as noted by Iroh. The printing press excuse does not work and even if it did, it would be extremely bad writing. How exactly does one publish the essence of metal or fire bending? You don't. Like real martial arts, you are MUCH better off training first hand with someone. Basic techniques that have a physical movement like the water whip are ok to learn for a scroll (but still not optimal) but there lightning bending and metalbending are mostly mental.

You are thinking of an unbend-able spirit, not will, for energy bending. Earthbending is all about willpower and all the tests aang takes center around that. That's his worst category.

Zuko did lightning bend though. So did his father. Zuko just chose never to use the form offensively though, and only ever re-directed it (back at his father). In fact, it was the redirecting technique that was unusual and what Iroh developed - not lightning bending itself - now that I think about it. And who says you can't learn the mental techniques of more advanced bending through a scroll? Some people may require instruction to get certain forms, but you obviously don't absolutely need it. Even then though, once you have a 'textbook', you can begin teaching classes of students, instead of approaching each one individually. In fact, we see this in Korra. During the time of Aang, it looks like Air Nomads get assigned a single master to study under. During the time of Korra, Air Acolytes study under a single master as a group. This may be by necessity, but it is still a divergence and likely wouldn't be possible without a printing press.

Toph supposedly taught people by saying 'you got to see the rock inside of the metal, and you need to do that by sensing the way it vibrates - then you need to be tougher than metal'. What difference does it make whether her word are spoken to your directly, or via writing? Obviously, some will need to re-phrased for them to get it, and for these people, they will need to seek training from a master. For others though, simply reading the words, they may just intuitively understand it.

Metal bending is learning to sense where the dirt is inside of metal. Lightning bending is learning to sense the energy flow inside of your own body, and separating it between two halves. Neither is inherently "different" than their parent forms, just new ways of approaching the art.

 

[Evernessince]

Zuko did lightning bend though. So did his father. Zuko just chose never to use the form offensively though, and only ever re-directed it (back at his father). In fact, it was the redirecting technique that was unusual and what Iroh developed - not lightning bending itself - now that I think about it. And who says you can't learn the mental techniques of more advanced bending through a scroll? Some people may require instruction to get certain forms, but you obviously don't absolutely need it. Even then though, once you have a 'textbook', you can begin teaching classes of students, instead of approaching each one individually. In fact, we see this in Korra. During the time of Aang, it looks like Air Nomads get assigned a single master to study under. During the time of Korra, Air Acolytes study under a single master as a group. This may be by necessity, but it is still a divergence and likely wouldn't be possible without a printing press.

Toph supposedly taught people by saying 'you got to see the rock inside of the metal, and you need to do that by sensing the way it vibrates - then you need to be tougher than metal'. What difference does it make whether her word are spoken to your directly, or via writing? Obviously, some will need to re-phrased for them to get it, and for these people, they will need to seek training from a master. For others though, simply reading the words, they may just intuitively understand it.

Metal bending is learning to sense where the dirt is inside of metal. Lightning bending is learning to sense the energy flow inside of your own body, and separating it between two halves. Neither is inherently "different" than their parent forms, just new ways of approaching the art.

Zuko did not do lightning bending. Iroh said he could not until he resolved his inner conflict. It was not a choice. Zuko can redirect lightning. Maybe he can lightning bend after the end of the original but that's beside the point.

"And who says you can't learn the mental techniques of more advanced bending through a scroll?"

One does not learn inner peace by reading from a scroll. It is not something that can be read or illustrated.

"Even then though, once you have a 'textbook', you can begin teaching classes of students, instead of approaching each one individually"

They were already teaching classes in the original. Remember book 1? Master Pacu and the healing master both had classes. Have you ever been to a martial arts class? They do not use textbooks lol. I have, it would be ridiculous if we had to pull out a textboox in the middle. The printing press has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with this.


"Toph supposedly taught people by saying 'you got to see the rock inside of the metal, and you need to do that by sensing the way it vibrates - then you need to be tougher than metal'. What difference does it make whether her word are spoken to your directly, or via writing? "

Given that toph sees by feeling vibrations being blind and all and has spent her entire life training that sense, I'd imagine that getting others to do the same is a lot more complicated then reading a piece of parchment. Please, write out an example paragraph that could aptly explain how to sense vibration you likely have no idea exist. I get the feeling you have not done martial arts in real life, many things can not be thought through text alone.