‘The Witcher’ Trailer: Look at Netflix’s dull, flavorless adaptation

Man, this trailer ain’t even bad. A state that can be reckoned with. Nah. Instead, it’s flat-out fucking bland.

Polygon:

Geralt of Rivia comes to life in the first trailer for Netflix’s The Witcher. Last October, the streaming service revealed Henry Cavill’s long, sleek silver wig; reactions were mixed. But during its San Diego Comic-Con panel, Netflix revealed the series’ first full trailer, and seeing the monster hunter come to life in this trailer solidifies Cavill’s claim to the role. Just look at that hair! Those rippling muscles! The horse! The sensitivity!

“[Geralt] has a dichotomy of being very hard on the exterior because that’s how he thinks the world is,” Cavill said at the panel, “but deep, deep down there’s this man who has a belief of what the world can be.”

Don’t expect the Netflix series to strictly follow the games’ version of the story. As reiterated at the panel, the show is meant to be an adaptation of the original fantasy series by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. This means, among other things, that Geralt carries one sword and keeps the other stashed away.

But at the panel, creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich emphasized that, by adapting The Last Wish to TV, characters like Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri all add more room to breathe. Additional scenes shown at the panel included a huge fight scene in which Queen Calanthe’s troops battle Geralt and a hedgehog man, Yennefer monologuing on a beach to a dead baby, and Ciri walking towards a glowing, orange light emanating in the forest, only to be met by a faction of female warriors. The action is rip-roaring, the production value was high, and the impression in the room was that the team nailed it.

Joining Cavill are Freya Allan (The War of the Worlds, Bluebird) as Ciri, and Anya Chalotra (Wanderlust, The ABC Murders) as Yennefer. Additional cast includes Jodhi May (Game of Thrones) as Queen Calanthe, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (Fortitude) as Eist, Adam Levy (Knightfall) as Mousesack, MyAnna Burig (Ripper Street) as Tissaia, and many more.

While no release date was announced, The Witcher is expected to arrive later this year.