The Witcher: Blood Origin has to make do without Henry Cavill on Netflix. And promptly sets a negative record for the fantasy franchise
The Witcher: Blood Origin wants to conquer The Witcher fans even without Henry Cavill. That plan has failed. At least looking at the reviews and audience ratings for the Netflix series so far, which are the worst of the entire fantasy franchise.
When in doubt, always team up with Michelle Yeoh!
The Witcher: Blood Origin is now on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/JUT7c6y5a6
– Netflix (@netflix) December 25, 2022
The Witcher series without Henry Cavill sets negative record
✍️’As Blood Origin proves, The Witcher owes its success to Cavill. And Netflix should move heaven and earth to persuade him to return.’
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– The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 27, 2022
This is noted by Comicbook.com looking at the Rotten Tomatoes -ratings of the franchise. There, Blood Origin comes in far behind its parent series and The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, which score at least 75% on both numbers, with a 33% critics rating and 10% audience rating.
The critics’ consensus on the aggregator site speaks of a “superficial” adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s book templates that is not particularly “memorable”. The Witcher series could not develop any power without Henry Cavill, is the verdict of IndieWire . “For completists only,” writes Variety
In some judgements, the immense cuts to the Netflix series and also Cavill’s franchise exit will have played a big part. At least individual voices are in favour of the series. CNN considers it a “gently distracting snack”. Whether that’s praise or not is for each fan to decide for themselves.
