Movies

No one, critics or fans, seems to like Netflix’s new Witcher spin-off

December 28, 2022

A woman in blue clothes stands in front of a man in dark clothes.

The Witcher: Origin of Blood

Netflix’s latest growth episode Witcher franchise, The Witcher: Origin of Blood, was recently released to a resounding “meh” from critics. But the fan response is even worse, with the four-episode limited series posting a dismal 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The low scores are the result of a few different factors related to the show, the original books, and former Superman actor Henry Cavill.

The Witcher: Origin of Blood is a limited series set in the same universe as Netflix’s main Witcher show, and both are based on the original series of novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. However, Origin of blood takes place a thousand years before the events of the original TV series and “represents the creation of the first Witcher, as well as the events leading up to the Conjunction of the Spheres”. It also stars Michelle Yeoh, who certainly deserves better than this low-rated, underrated fantasy prequel.

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On the film review aggregation website rotten tomatoes, Origin of blood boasts a 36% approval rating among critics and an even worse 8% approval rating from fans (h/t Forbes). While the critics’ score is poor and puts it among some of the lowest-rated original shows on Netflix, it’s the historically low eight percent viewership rating that’s really insane.

Of course, it’s worth noting that some fans bombard the show for different reasons. Some are angry at Henry Cavill’s supporters, still furious at his late October exit from the main show. Others are Witcher fans who continue to be frustrated with Netflix’s handling of original source material in its Witcher projects. Viewers unhappy with how a series handles source material has become a hot topic among many video game fans, with complaints that Netflix is short-lived. resident Evil series and Paramount Halo both stray too far from the original works on which they are supposed to be based. This is probably why Amazon has recently made a big deal of how its next God of the war The TV show will “stay true” to the games.

Read more: In defense of the 2007s the witcher, The neglected game that gets remade for a reason

Yet it’s hard to ignore very slow eight percent audience on rotten tomatoes. Even Netflix is supposedly despised resident Evil the show has a 26% approval rating from fans. (Halo sits at a relatively excellent 52%.) Origin of bloodThe rating of , at least from what I can tell, seems to be the lowest viewership rating of any Netflix original show. That’s even lower than some other infamous movies and shows, like Disney and Marvel. She-Hulk (33%) or Star Wars: The Last Jedi (42 percent).

With all of that in mind, my reading is that this is not just another case of a property being bombarded by reviews, but rather a very bad show that even diehards Witcher fans don’t like it. Reading fan reviews, many complain about the poor quality CGI, dull pacing, bland writing, and general lack of direction. It also echoes similar complaints from critics. For Netflix, that can’t be a good thing and doesn’t bode well for the future of its monster-slaying franchise in a post-Henry Cavill era. Witcher-verse.

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