Where are my fellow Witcher fans at? Whether you’re a fan of the books, the games, or even just the series; The Witcher has a wide fanbase all over the world due to its exciting storylines and fun, action-packed content. If you have played Witcher 3, however, then you should understand why Vesemir has made such an impact on my personal Witcher journey. :p (But shhh. No spoilers!)
So, when I heard that the upcoming Witcher anime, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, would revolve around Vesemir’s younger years, I got super duper excited. In this anime origin story, Vesemir escapes a life of poverty to slay monsters for coin. However, when a strange new monster begins terrorizing a politically fraught kingdom, Vesemir finds himself on a frightening adventure that forces him to confront the demons of his past.
We got to get on a Zoom call with showrunner and executive producer Lauren Hissrich to find out more about the anime and she told us that they had actually been writing it since 2018 alongside Season 1 of The Witcher series. Lauren shares that The Witcher has always been about family for her – Geralt, Ciri, and Yen. “Specific with Geralt and Ciri, it’s about fatherhood,” she points out – and what better character to explore than Geralt’s father and to understand where these lessons were imparted?
In the anime, they hope to delve into the question, “What did Geralt learn from Vesemir that he can now give to Ciri?” Lauren explains that this is also why Deglan, Vesemir’s father figure, is introduced in the film. “We start to understand how witchers work generationally,” Lauren adds. “We know they live for a very long time, so how is their social structure working? How are they a family? And what did they pass on those lessons?”
In the games, Vesemir is as much of a father figure as it can get. He looks like a dad and he acts like a dad. So, like me, I am sure you will love seeing this whole new side of him. Lauren agrees that this is something to look forward to. “I think what people will really be excited about is this younger, charismatic, sexier version of Vesemir that we don’t expect to see at all,” she beams.
“The moment where he winks in the trailer is one of my absolute favorite moments. And I think, to introduce a character that the book lovers and game lovers and the TV show lovers all understand as this sort of older, grizzled, jaded man who has seen everything, who has experienced everything, and is scared of nothing – to see him represented as a young man who is just full of bravado and adventuring and taking over the world that was the part of the fun of this character, too – just showing this side of him.” If you’ve ever wondered what your dad might have been like in college, that’s what Witcher fans might feel while watching Nightmare of the Wolf. It’s a very relatable thing.
Watch the trailer here:
While Nightmare of the Wolf isn’t necessarily “required viewing” before Season 2 comes out, Lauren highly recommends watching it if you want to be rewarded in spades. They plant a lot of history in the film that will apparently make sense in Season 2 – from the history of Kaer Morhen to Deglan and Vesemir’s relationship to young Geralt’s beginnings. “You don’t need to watch it, but there are some really special moments that viewers of the anime will be rewarded for,” she promises.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will start streaming on Netflix on August 23, 2021.
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