It would be an understatement to say that Netflix subscribers with a soft spot for fantasy have been put through the wringer more often than not recently, with the streaming service’s approach to otherworldly content causing widespread frustration and fury.
Upwards of two dozen in-house originals set in the genre have been tossed onto the scrapheap in the space of just three years, so it’s a real kick in the teeth for many of them to discover that one they’ve actively been trying to have taken off the airwaves is set to secure another stay of execution.
It hasn’t been officially confirmed as of yet, but a casting director revealing that season 5 of The Witcher is already on the cards is the equivalent of Netflix flipping the bird at anyone who’s ever taken to social media and tried to drum up support for an abandoned favorite. Geralt of Rivia’s adventures on the Continent might have proven itself to be one of the most-watched exclusives on offer twice over, but you don’t have to try too hard to find a huge number of people demanding the axe be wielded.
When Liam Hemsworth was first announced to be replacing Henry Cavill in the title role, petitions and campaigns were immediately launched calling for The Witcher to be canceled altogether, while various other internet-only movements outlined the unanimous desire for showrunner Lauren Hissrich to be given the boot at the very least.
It clearly hasn’t or won’t be happening in the near future, then, but you simply couldn’t make up the irony in Netflix wiping so many fantastical favorites off the face of the planet, only to go ahead and renew the one folks don’t want to exist anymore. That being said, we’ll see if the furious Witcher fanatics follow through on their promise to avoid season 3 en masse in a show of solidarity with Cavill’s outgoing monster hunter.
