The Witcher: Blood Origin is one of Netflix's biggest holiday releases. However, on the back of Henry Cavill leaving the main show, it seems like the prequel is already having a tough time, at least judging from its YouTube feedback.
In this new chapter, showrunners Declan de Barra and Lauren S. Hissrich aim to tell The Witcher story before the all-important Conjunction of Spheres cataclysm took place, around 12 centuries before Geralt of Rivia's adventures. The Witcher: Blood Origin's review embargo was lifted yesterday, and most of these impressions seem to highlight a lack of enough Witcher lore that can convince fans to sign off on the 4-episode miniseries.
Over on YouTube, The Witcher: Blood Origin previews are facing the same kind of backlash that Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power did before its release. The latest The Witcher: Blood Origin trailer, uploaded on December 3, amassed 124,000 dislikes versus just 25,000 likes. The same goes for the first teaser posted on November 10, almost 2 weeks after Cavill announced he would leave The Witcher, with that video's like-to-dislike ratio sitting at 41,000 versus 164,000.
It bears saying that the first teaser for The Witcher: Blood Origin, which was actually the post-credits scene for The Witcher season 2, still has 23,000 likes against 3,600 dislikes. Considering the first teaser was released long before Cavill's departure, The Witcher: Blood Origin's current reception shows the effect Cavill's departure has had on the goodwill of some fans. YouTube notoriously disabled the dislike count on its videos in late 2021, but there are browser extensions, such as “Return YouTube Dislike,” that allow users to see these stats.
Meanwhile, Hissrich posted a Witcher: Blood Origin preview on her personal Instagram account (@laurenhissrich). As a result, the showrunner has responded to numerous negative comments about the series’ demise. She's won over fans by keeping up the good spirit, despite discrepancies about The Witcher's faithfulness to the source material. Weeks before Cavill quit The Witcher, former writer Beau DeMayo said some of the show’s writers had no respect for Andrzej Sapkowski's work, something that Hissrich vehemently denied by saying people shouldn't believe everything they read or hear.
Granted, YouTube likes aren’t everything when judging any show or movie. Nevertheless, despite large support from many die-hard Tolkien fans, a big part of the fandom and even some Lord of the Rings actors have disapproved of Rings of Power, something that the other big fantasy series like House of the Dragon did not have to deal with.
The Witcher: Blood Origin will be available on Netflix starting December 25, 2023.
Source: Netflix | YouTube