Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ is a cleverly crafted potboiler with a huge fan base

On August 23, Netflix released The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, an 80-minute animated movie set in the world of The Witcher, its hit dark fantasy series starring Henry Cavill as the titular character. Pot’s boiling Nightmare of the Wolf is further reminder of why The Witcher is well-placed to fill that Game of Thrones -sized void among fantasy fans; its breathtakingly mounted action set pieces involve superb VFX, juicy political intrigues and display the show’s propensity to weave in contemporary issues with allegorical storylines. In the show’s usual narrative structure, it operates on two timelines: we meet Vesimir as a young boy, when he is taken in by the master Witcher Deglan and the grown-up Vesimir as he battles a political conspiracy hatched by Kitsu, a rogue elf, and Tetra Gilcrest, a sorcerer with a grudge against witchers. It already has a major advantage — not only does it tap into the fan-base of the original Witcher novels but the show is The Nightmare of the Wolf is already drawing rave reviews, and expect more of the same when The Witcher ’s second season drops in December.