'The Witcher: Blood Origin' Might Be The Most Streamed Title On Netflix But Review Scores Suggest Otherwise

TV & Film

Dec 30

Andrzej Sapkowski’s cinematic universe has been taking a few hits lately, first with the departure of Henry Cavill after the third season of The Witcher, and now with The Witcher: Blood Origin’s disastrous scores on Rotten Tomatoes. The prequel to The Witcher hit Netflix on December 25 and has been dragged down just a few hours after its premiere by both critics and the general audience. As of this writing, the four-episode miniseries scores an average of 11% among the general audience. Ironically, it is currently one of the most streamed series on Netflix. So what went wrong?

The Witcher: Blood Origin unfolds the story behind the creation of the first witcher, the Conjunction of the Spheres, and the downfall of the elven civilization. Set many centuries before the events of The Witcher, the miniseries introduces us to a fresh new cast that includes Michelle Yeoh, Laurence O’Fuarain, and Lenny Henry.

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The premise sounds appealing. However, the reality seen after the release of the show is very different. According to Rotten Tomatoes, both critics and the general audience see this prequel as a generic and dull attempt at expanding The Witcher’s universe. Reviews mention the shallowness of the story, the lack of commitment by some actors, and the tacky CGI. Perhaps more importantly, the thing that greatly disappointed the fans was how the studio dishonored the source material by making the first witcher an elf instead of a human.

While all of this might be true, Blood Origin may also be suffering from Cavill’s withdrawal from The Witcher. As a great fan of the books and the videogames, the actor was undoubtedly one of the reasons why the Netflix series has such a good audience reception. Now, with Cavill’s departure and Blood Origin’s latest flop, the future of the franchise looks very uncertain.

The Witcher: Blood Origin is now streaming on Netflix.

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