The Witcher Showrunner Wanted Prosthetics Over CGI For Creating Monsters

The Witcher will feature several monsters from the books and games for Geralt to take down, and in early images, we've already seen a few creatures that Geralt will face, including a Kikimore and a Foglet. There are quite a few more creatures coming to the show, but don't expect a CGI fest when the show debuts. In a new interview with SciFi Now (via Redanian Intelligence), showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich explained their approach to monster making, and when they can help it it's always going to be prosthetics over computers.

"Obviously, these are monsters that don't exist in the real world so we did use a lot of prosthetics and we tried to keep things performance-based, to use an actor in a prosthetic as opposed to a whole CG creation," Hissrich said. "If Geralt is fighting a monster, I would rather have him fighting something real than fighting a big empty space in front of a green screen."

"Obviously there is CGI in the show but we really did use as many authentic environments as we could. We shot in an amazing castle in Poland, we did the same in Austria and then obviously most of our soundstages were in Hungary so we shot the bulk of the series there on soundstages and in the surrounding countryside," Hissrich said.

Personally we're all for this method, as it lends the world a realism and groundedness that is often far better than even the most impressive CGI, and we can't wait to see what some of Geralt's enemies end up looking like.

You can find the official description for Netflix's The Witcher below.

"Based on the best-selling fantasy series of books, The Witcher is an epic tale of fate and family. Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts," Netflix said. "But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together."

Henry Cavill (Geralt of Rivia), Anya Chalotra (Yennefer), Freya Allan (Ciri), Jodhi May (Calanthe), Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (Eist), Adam Levy (Mousesack), MyAnna Buring (Tissaia), Mimi Ndiweni (Fringilla), Therica Wilson-Read (Sabrina), Emma Appleton (Renfri), Eamon Farren (Cahir), Joey Batey (Jaskier), Lars Mikkelsen (Stregobor), Royce Pierreson (Istredd), Maciej Musiał (Sir Lazlo), Wilson Radjou-Pujalte (Dara), and Anna Shaffer as Triss.

The Witcher hits Netflix on December 20th, and you can check out more from our Witcher coverage right here. You can also hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things Witcher!