The Witcher series controversy

At the latest since the announcement of the Netflix The Witcher series, the opinions among

the fans regarding the upcoming series based on the books have fluctuated. This was also

the case in September of last year, when the rumour spread that Ciri, depicted as white-

skinned in the books and video games, was to be played by a dark-skinned actress. And even

after the rumor turned out to be wrong, many fans are still not happy with the look of the

characters. Lauren S Hissrich, the showrunner of the series, explained a few days ago what

the outward appearance of the characters are all about.

On Twitter she states that the books written by Andrzej Sapkowski are mainly rooted in the

Slavic culture and that this Slavic culture can't be reduced to just the skin colour. Moreover,

the series, which is broadcast in over 190 countries, is supposed to be attractive for

everybody, and this works best through the actors.

Whether this reassures the die-hard fans or not, Hissrich makes it clear that since the

beginning of the casting they have deliberately not looked at skin colour or ethnical

background, in order to appeal to a wider audience.

We will most likely be able to see on Netflix in December this year whether the content of

the series will be convincing or not.