‘The Witcher: The Nightmare Of The Wolf’ Trailer: The Animated Spin-Off Hits Netflix Next Month
It’s a good day to be a fan ofThe Witcher. Afterannouncing the premiere dateof season 2 andshowing off the first teaser trailer, the streaming giant also revealed a feature-length animatedWitcherfilm.The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolfis a Netflix original anime film set before the events of the live-action series.
What is The Nightmare of the Wolf?
Details are scarce, but the anime prequel to the hit dark fantasy series centers on Vesemir, one of the oldest surviving witchers. Vesemir served as a father figure to young Geralt when his mother Visenna left him at Kaer Morhen, home of the witcher School of the Wolf.
Vesemir’s story diverges depending on whether you’re referencingThe Witchernovels byAndrzej Sapkowskior are playing the video game series of the same name. What remains consistent is his rough paternal nature, though the anime may take place before he’s developed much of that. The trailer indicates that we’re going to see the trials of a very young Vesemir, perhaps even before he met Geralt.
ActorKim Bodnia, who will play Vesemir in the second season of the live-action series, will also voice him for the animated film. It will be directed byKwang Il Han(The Boondocks) and was written byThe Witcherseries writerBeau DeMayo.
“Face Your Demons”
Nightmare of the Wolfwon’t be the last Netflix anime title to spin off ofThe Witcher. There’s also the live-action prequel seriesBlood Originin the works, so Netflix is banking that no one gets tired of this world.
Thankfully, there’s a lot that can be explored in animation that’s simply out of reach in live-action storytelling. you’re able to use all of the green-screen and CGI you want, but some things are still just in the realm of the impossible.Nightmare of the Wolfcan explore some of the more esoteric concepts in theWitcheruniverse and still look gorgeous while doing it.
The tagline “Face Your Demons” might mean this is more than Vesemir’s origin story. It might be the origin of all witchers, and of the magical Signs they use to fight demons. Perhaps the magic comes from the demons themselves? There’s someRe-Animator-looking green fluid going into someone’s arm, and then there’s a werewolf. The two are probably connected, and they’ll somehow connect toHenry Cavill’s Geralt chilling in a hot-tub in a white wig. Time will tell.
