The world of The Witcher is expanding, with the release of The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf - but will there be a sequel to this animated film? Based on the series of novels and short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher season 1 was a hit for Netflix - in part because of superb casting, with Henry Cavill taking the titular role. Recognizing the story potential of of the vast fantasy world Sapkowski created, Netflix wasted no time signing up to a number of spinoffs and prequels.
The first of these is The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, an anime movie that doesn't continue the story of Geralt of Rivia at all - but rather serves to provide a backstory for his mentor, Vesemir. "There are things I wanted to know about," showrunner and co-executive producer Lauren Schmidt Hissrich explained in an interview with Variety. "What it takes to become a Witcher, how Geralt became a Witcher, where his journey started and who was important to him." While its focus is on Vesemir, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf serves as something of a back-door origin story to Geralt, showing the events that shaped the hard-bitten monster-slayer.
Naturally, this is leading to intense speculation as to whether or not there will be a sequel to The Witcher: Nightmare on the Wolf. Unfortunately, at this stage, it doesn't look likely.
Although Netflix is expanding the world of The Witcher, there's no evidence Nightmare of the Wolf is more than a one-off. The story it tells, of the fall of Kaer Morhen, has been alluded to many times but never shown before, and it ends with Vesemir becoming master of Kaer Morhen and the most important figure among the Witchers. While he no doubt has many other adventures - he was one of the oldest Witchers, living more than 200 years - his character arc and journey is essentially complete. It is therefore unlikely Netflix will commission a sequel.
Vesemir is a key figure among the Witchers, and in Sapkowski's books Geralt took Ciri to the Witcher Keep to train under him. James Baxter has been cast to play the part in The Witcher season 2, no doubt following the plot from Sapkowski's novels, but intriguingly Alexander Squires will play the part of the young Geralt in flashbacks as well. That means there may be a strong connecting line between The Witcher season 2 and Nightmare of the Wolf, although it will be interesting to see whether the portrayals of Vesemir and young Geralt match.
In July 2020, Netflix announced a second Witcher spinoff set 1,200 years before Geralt's time. Unlike The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, The Witcher: Blood Origin will be a live-action series that tells the tale of the first Witcher. It will deal with a spectacular cosmic event referred to as the Conjunction of the Spheres, a multiversal event in which different worlds and dimensions collided, unleashing both humans and monsters on the Continent. The repercussions of the Conjunction of the Spheres continue into Geralt's day, meaning it will be thrilling to see more of this key lore from The Witcher.
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