When it comes to the new Netflix series “The Witcher: Blood Origin”, critics and audiences don’t quite agree. Overall, however, the production received conspicuously negative ratings across the board – now even the worst in the history of the streaming service.
Netflix had certainly imagined it very differently. Actually, the expectations of the “The Witcher” spin-off were actually quite high. It was not expected that “The Witcher: Blood Origin” would fail across the board. But is that really due to the series itself or the sensational debates surrounding superstar Henry Cavill’s exit from the parent series?
“The Witcher: Blood Origin” gets underground reviews
The spin-off has been on Netflix since Christmas Day; it is again an in-house production of the streaming giant. At Netflix, several factors play a role in evaluating success. Was a title able to place itself in the provider’s charts? How much was it streamed and were new subscribers generated? History suggests that Netflix doesn’t necessarily prioritize ratings, but in the case of The Witcher: Blood Origin, they’re actually historically poor.
at Rotten Tomatoes As of now (December 30, 2022), the series has a critic rating of 33 percent. Users, on the other hand, only give a rating of 12 percent, which is an increase of 9 percent from the starting value – according to Forbes the worst rating of a Netflix series of all time.
at IMDB gives a similar picture with 4.1 out of 10, just like with Metacritic. This is where the gap between critics and users is actually even greater: while the critics still award 47 out of 100 points, the series falls completely through the audience with a 1.0 out of 10. But is the mini-series on Netflix really as bad as it’s made out to be?
Boring dialogues, a generally bad and predictable screenplay as well as little attention to detail can be heard as criticism from many quarters. Many also note that the series has now moved quite far from the book template. On the one hand, of course, this is due to the fact that there was no concrete template for the plot. However, fans of the books in particular are apparently bothered by how many liberties Netflix has taken in the concept of the plot and, above all, in its implementation. Apart from this substantive criticism, which one can find quite appropriate, the disappointment that Henry Cavill will no longer be seen as the witcher Geralt in the future resonates with many fan reviews. Of course, this only indirectly has something to do with the spin-off, but that doesn’t stop the fans’ outrage.
Also interesting: All information about “The Witcher” season 3
Henry Cavill’s exit has repercussions
Part of that outrage may also be the circumstances under which Cavill left the project. Neither the official statement from the actor nor the announcement from Netflix itself contain any precise statements. Many assume that Cavill left the series voluntarily because the self-confessed fan of Andrzej Sapkowski’s work, on which the Netflix productions are based, did not like the way the material was handled.
Anonymous sources report that there were discrepancies on the set. Among other things, Cavill also tried to influence the shooting. That was partly positive, as evidenced by the example of the legendary fight scene in season 1, for which Cavill probably personally recommended the German stuntman and action choreographer Wolfgang Stegemann. The whole scene was actually reshot and has been legendary ever since. On the other hand, that would have made cooperation difficult and led to delays.
After Cavill’s departure, at least showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich feared that this could have a negative impact on “The Witcher: Blood Origin”. Before the start, she appealed to the fans to look at the series neutrally and detached from it. Apparently without success.
This is what The Witcher: Blood Origin is all about
The action of “Blood Origin” begins around 1200 years before the events of the main series “The Witcher”. In the series, Netflix dives deeper into the fantasy world of author Andrzej Sapkowski and wants to lay a historical carpet for the entire franchise. Accordingly, the main subject is the creation of the very first witcher on the continent. We also learn what the ominous conjunction of the spheres is all about.
The event refers to the overlapping of several worlds in the Witcher cosmos, with the result that people, but also monsters, colonize the continent. The creation of the first witcher is then a reaction to this new danger. Equally important for the further historical development of Sapkowski’s world is the conflict between the different peoples, who are now colliding through the conjunction of the spheres.