Netflix has been developing its own franchises for long enough now that it has a few tentpoles that fans recognize. Stranger Things may only have the flagship series currently going, but video games have happened, and a spinoff series is in the works. Even Bridgerton has been successful enough to warrant multiple seasons and a prequel. This week, though, Netflix’s biggest franchise with multiple spinoffs has released its next chapter. Even with new episodes for fans to devour, there’s still a twinge of controversy to be found, especially with reviews not quite meeting expectations.
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This week, Netflix has released the highly anticipated fourth season of The Witcher, marking its latest expansion on the long-running fantasy series and making it one of Netflix’s biggest franchises to date. Some shows like Virgin River may be the longest-running show on Netflix, with eight seasons total, and others, like Squid Game, might be the most popular in terms of viewership, but The Witcher is now their biggest in terms of sheer output. The new episodes come with controversy though, as they mark a major change for the series.
The Witcher Now Streaming New Episodes, But Fans Aren’t Sure
Original The Witcher star Henry Cavill has departed the series and no longer plays Geralt of Rivia, instead, Liam Hemsworth has stepped into his shoes and is the new face of the series. For fans, this brings major uncertainty to the show as they have been apprehensive about Hemsworth taking over the part of Geralt from Cavill ever since the move was confirmed by Netflix. Rumor and speculation have fueled this as Cavill’s reason for exiting the series has remained largely mysterious, with some fans uncertain how they’ll feel about a different actor in the role or even the direction of the series as a whole without Cavill’s involvement.
To stoke those flames further, the reviews are looking relatively mixed for the episodes. As of this writing, 12 reviews total have given The Witcher Season 4 a 50% approval rating. That said, ComicBook’s own Matt Aguilar gave the series a four out of 5, highlighting the ensemble cast of the entire series as a highlight, and that Hemsworth steps into the role well. Now that the episodes are here, fans will have to do the unthinkable: watch for themselves and come to their own conclusion.
With the arrival of The Witcher Season 4 it marks the latest expansion of what has clearly become Netflix’s biggest franchise. In addition to the four seasons of the flagship The Witcher TV series, Netflix has more spinoffs of this series than anything else in their library. In addition to the four seasons of The Witcher itself, with a fifth already shot and set to arrive soon, Netflix has expanded the franchise with a prequel series, The Witcher: Blood Origin, and two animated feature films, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf and The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep. As it stands now, it’s unclear what future The Witcher has on Netflix after Season 5 is released, but with a commitment of this size by Netflix so far, we shouldn’t be surprised if it returns in some form.
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Courtesy of Toei Animation
