Production on season two of Netflix‘s blockbuster fantasy series The Witcher has finally come to an end, as reported by Deadline. Shooting allegedly took place in over one dozen locations across the United Kingdom and required the combined efforts of nearly 1,300 people, taking into account the second season’s expanded cast roster and three filming units’ worth of crew members, Deadline reports. The show’s official Twitter account posted comedic video on April 2 confirming that the team was primed to start post-production. The clip features brief appearances from showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (The Umbrella Academy, Daredevil) and executive producers Jason F. Brown (The Expanse, Ben-Hur), Tomek Baginski (Into the Night, Fallen Art), and Steve Gaub (Beauty and the Beast, Christopher Robin).
Location shooting on The Witcher season two commenced in February 2020 and shut down swiftly afterward in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to Deadline. The scheduling delays wound up affecting the makeup of the cast. Danish actor Thue Ersted Rasmussen (F9, Norskov), who had previously been cast as the calm and reasonable monster hunter Eskel, exited the project in September 2020 due to schedule concerns, as reported by Deadline. The role was recast with Swiss performer Basil Eidenbenz (The Athena, Wildings) shortly thereafter, according to Variety. Other new additions to the cast include Aisha Fabienne Ross (Highway One), Kim Bodnia (Killing Eve), Edward Rowe (An Tarow), and Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton).
Filming resumed in August 2020, but unfortunately, several positive COVID-19 diagnoses in November brought production to standstill once more, as reported by Variety. Less than two months later, series star Henry Cavill (Zack Snyder’s Justice League, The Tudors) got sidelined by an on-set hamstring injury.
In a recent interview with SyFy Wire, Hissrich spoke at length about how her thematic focus for season two is the large-scale consequence of sorcery. “What decisions do we make for power? What do we sacrifice? More importantly, how does [magic] hurt the people around us? This is the type of storytelling I’m really excited for,” she told SyFy Wire. Hissrich also hinted that Geralt (Cavill), Yennefer (Anya Chalotra, Sherwood) and Ciri (Freya Allan, The Third Day) would all be coming to terms with their responsibilities to the people in their lives. “We have three separate characters who have been… refusing to admit that they need or want anyone else, grappling with how their decision-making impacts everyone else… That is the biggest shift in season two,” she stated, via SyFy Wire.
While no definitive release date for The Witcher season two has been announced, there is nevertheless a shared feeling of enthusiasm among the series’ fans now that filming is complete. Creator of The Witcher franchise Andrzej Sapkowski (Season of Storms, The Tower of Fools) was queried by io9 about his own hopes for season two. “Allow me to quote [author] Joe Abercrombie… ‘Keep your expectations low. Maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised,’ ” he answered, via io9.
Image credit: Raymond Flotat