Fantasy Netflix's The Witcher - General Discussion Thread

[OutOfBoose]

Unless they give her Cavill-like terrible wig.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Unless they give her Cavill-like terrible wig.

Looks good.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Unless they give her Cavill-like terrible wig.

Nope.

 

[Enriquespy]

Looks good!

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

I wonder what the budget for this is? Hopefully the monsters look good.

 

[Reek]

Nope.

please explain... other than the green eyes.... which could be added...

I swear it's hard to even discuss anything everyone is so negative lol "no" "nope" "not my ____"

Now I hope they really do cast Norm MacDonald as Dandelion as Roose and I joked about, just to see the meltdown.

 

[TheVileOne]

Joey Batey is playing Jaskier. So this guy:

 

[Manasrepublic]

The wig on Cavill doesn’t look that bad at all but he does look quite clean shaven. Maybe this isn’t his final look. I haven’t played the game or read the books; is there meant to be a lot of huge action scenes or is the witcher a more intimate smaller scale story?

 

[Punisher_MAX]

please explain... other than the green eyes.... which could be added...

I swear it's hard to even discuss anything everyone is so negative lol "no" "nope" "not my ____"

Now I hope they really do cast Norm MacDonald as Dandelion as Roose and I joked about, just to see the meltdown.

Nothing about the actress and her looks makes me think she looks like I imagine Triss to look like. While the games made her hair brighter than it should be I feel they nailed down exactly how the book described her. Quite frankly, as with Fringilla, they shouldn't have cast POC for them.

Same thing with the Yen actress, nothing about her appearance or resume leads me to believe she'll embody her.

Cavill needs a better wig but I can see him playing Geralt so his casting doesn't irk me but the final look will determine my feelinga on it all.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Almost nobody, except probably Gandalf, looked like I imagined them when I was reading LOTR books.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Almost nobody, except probably Gandalf, looked like I imagined them when I was reading LOTR books.

Difference is I played The Witcher games before I read the books so I had a hell of a reference point.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Difference is I played The Witcher games before I read the books so I had a hell of a reference point.

In other words, it's the question of detaching yourself from a specific iteration. I saw LOTR illustrations prior to reading the books. Aragorn didn't seem manly enough in the films, Frodo was too young, Galadriel isn't pretty enough, elves looked too ordinary (they also didn't ride horses without a saddle), many characters that I looked forward to were absent in films and so on... But LOTR films (theatrical versions) are still bloody amazing adaptations, even if different from books or illustrations that I saw prior to them. I know it's hard to "let it go" and judge it on it's own merits, but it's getting too obsessive. Concentrate on the essence, not superficial stuff like eye color.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

In other words, it's the question of detaching yourself from a specific iteration. I saw LOTR illustrations prior to reading the books. Aragorn didn't seem manly enough in the films, Frodo was too young, Galadriel isn't pretty enough, elves looked too ordinary (they also didn't ride horses without a saddle), many characters that I looked forward to were absent in films and so on... But LOTR films (theatrical versions) are still bloody amazing adaptations, even if different from books or illustrations that I saw prior to them. I know it's hard to "let it go" and judge it on it's own merits, but it's getting too obsessive. Concentrate on the essence, not superficial stuff like eye color.

While thats fair when reading the books the descriptions were pretty accurate to the games.

Let's be quite frank here, there would be no Netflix series for The Witcher if the games were not as popular as they are. The Witcher 3 is even being hailed as one of the greatest RPGs of all time and is a game that is still selling at a pretty good rate despite it coming out years ago so the general public knows about the Witcher because of the games. Hell, the games were so good I bought the entire book series and read it all in a month.

Another thing about the games themselves is that they did a pretty spot-on job of how the characters are supposed to act and pretty much nailed their appearances. While reading the books I was amazed at how much of the personality translated over to the games.

So while I understand that letting it go is something I need to do, and others who now know about The Witcher, it's almost impossible when the game series did everything as accurately to the books as possible.

Also, race changing adds such a stupid narrative wrench into things but we've all discussed that to the point of redundancy.

 

[OutOfBoose]

While thats fair when reading the books the descriptions were pretty accurate to the games.

Yennefer has different features as described in the books. Triss is different from the books too.

Let's be quite frank here, there would be no Netflix series for The Witcher if the games were not as popular as they are. The Witcher 3 is even being hailed as one of the greatest RPGs of all time and is a game that is still selling at a pretty good rate despite it coming out years ago so the general public knows about the Witcher because of the games. Hell, the games were so good I bought the entire book series and read it all in a month.

It obviously explains why people whine about appearance of actors. They don't look like carbon copies of the characters from games. Sure, plenty of people are looking for an adaptation of the characters they already love. But for some reason Song of Ice and Fire fans were less vocal and more tolerant towards creative liberties in TV adaptation when it comes to characters. Probably because the show was of high quality and it compensated departures from the books (at least at the highest points in the show, seasons 1-4). Hopefully it's the case with The Witcher too.

Another thing about the games themselves is that they did a pretty spot-on job of how the characters are supposed to act and pretty much nailed their appearances. While reading the books I was amazed at how much of the personality translated over to the games.

The characters and the world are adapted extremely well, but we have to remember that digital art allows any kind of tweaking. You can choose any appearance you like. It's not the same with real actors. There are people who look really close to the game Yennefer, for example, but judging by casting tapes, they can't freaking act. If they were unable to find a perfect look-alike with the right skill, there was probably some compromise. I'll take an actress that can convey the character in her performance, rather than physical appearance. It doesn't mean that people that were cast will nail their characters (remains to be seen). Right now it's impossible to make any judgement.

So while I understand that letting it go is something I need to do, and others who now know about The Witcher, it's almost impossible when the game series did everything as accurately to the books as possible.

It's not the question of faithfulness, imo. But liking/disliking. Let's be frank here: if you started with games, you didn't give a **** about how close it was to the books. You just enjoyed the characters the way they were in the games.

Also, race changing adds such a stupid narrative wrench into things but we've all discussed that to the point of redundancy.

It's a complex issue. It can have narrative (or world building) consequences or it just alters look of characters too much. I can accept Istredd being poc, but can't really imagine a guy with a name Stregobor (or Gandalf) being one. Yennefer actress, while having middle eastern features, can still resemble the character, because technically she's still white. For Fringilla they need to create a new background.

 

[OutOfBoose]

In the end, I'm having the same issue. It's really hard for me to be open-minded and accept a different take when I like the game adaptation so much. But for the most part it's a problem with me, not with the show (so far).

 

[Punisher_MAX]

You definitely bring up good points, at the end of the day I was hoping to burst with enthusiasm at the casting but the main women who have been casted just don't inspire confidence. I hope I'm wrong but the casting reeks of SJW pandering since the showrunner won't **** about her being as such and that may also add to my negative feelings. I wasn't expecting Eva Green to be Yen or Amanda Seyfried to be Triss but I could've seen other solid actors from shows being cast instead.

 

[OutOfBoose]

You definitely bring up good points, at the end of the day I was hoping to burst with enthusiasm at the casting but the main women who have been casted just don't inspire confidence. I hope I'm wrong but the casting reeks of SJW pandering since the showrunner won't **** about her being as such and that may also add to my negative feelings. I wasn't expecting Eva Green to be Yen or Amanda Seyfried to be Triss but I could've seen other solid actors from shows being cast instead.

Movies of the past (including recent stuff like Aquaman) made me realize that physical appearance is less important. Momoa and Heard are physically perfect people, but when I see them acting, I don't burst with enthusiasm.

Casting totally looks like representation statement, and Sapkowski was probably ready to say anything to make the adaptation happen so he can get his paycheck. Also, I'm glad that Eva Green isn't Yen. So ****ing glad.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Katie McGrath was my realistic pick for Yen but c'est la vie.

 

[Marvolo]

Joey Batey is playing Jaskier. So this guy:

I had to Google Jaskier to figure out who that was. Never knew Dandelion is called Jakier in other languages. Both are names of flowers, but I prefer Dandelion.

 

[OutOfBoose]

I also prefer Dandelion. At least in English. In Russian version Jaskier (Buttercup) is Лютик.

I get why they changed his name from Buttercup. I wonder if they will go with the Polish name, or with the adapted one. "Jaskier" as a nickname means nothing to foreign audiences.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Couple more.

Maybe they won't bother messing with her appearance much.

Or they will give her something like this. Along the lines of what I suggested - to bring her hair back, to open her face, jawline.

 

[Legendver2]

Couple more.

Maybe they won't bother messing with her appearance much.

Or they will give her something like this. Along the lines of what I suggested - to bring her hair back, to open her face, jawline.

Dayum

 

[Legendver2]

On a side note, there's plenty of POC in most series and films nowadays, it's just a matter of specifics on who portrays who that's the main focus of debates, so I am a little disappoint we didn't get an actual redhead for Triss. We hardly have any redheads anywhere aside from the staple 2 of Chastain and Dallas Howard.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Probably because skilled and pretty natural redhead actresses are hard to come by.

 

[TheVileOne]

All indication is that they are using Jaskier for Dandelion in the TV series.