Netflix’s The Witcher franchise has witnessed some major turbulence in recent months as the franchise’s leading man, Henry Cavill, left citing creative differences with producers. What’s more, the recently released live action prequel series, The Witcher: Blood Origin, seems to be leaving a negative impression on audiences, as it has earned an abysmal 8 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Though the prequel series is currently Netflix’s #1 show, audiences and critics alike seem to be having a hard time connecting to the material. The series has earned the franchise’s lowest audience and critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes, with just 38 percent out of 24 critic ratings and 8 percent out of more than 1500 user ratings. According to the platform, the general consensus about Blood Origin is that it’s “a “shallow” excavation of the series’ lore that shares DNA with the series, but doesn’t have much to make it memorable”.
Some notable reviews given by critics and audiences include:
“Bad. Just really really bad. I wonder when Netflix will reach the point where they can’t treat source material any worse. I certainly hope this is their lowest point finally, otherwise it might be time to leave this platform for good” = Al R (Audience Review)
“The TV equivalent, in a way, of a tangentially-related hyperlink that you end up clicking while reading about something else on Wikipedia.” – Ready Steady Cut (Critic Review)
“Lackluster, unoriginal and carried through on the promise of better things – The Witcher: Blood Origin is a mediocre affair. Michelle Yeoh is wasted, Lenny Henry lacks conviction and Minnie Driver gives some great narration. Best avoided.” – We Got This Covered (Critic Review)
However, though few, there were also some positive reviews, including ComicBook.com’s Matthew Aguilar review, which gave the series a 4 out of 5, writing that “The Witcher: Blood Origin accomplishes its goal of setting the stage for a universe and bringing life to a much talked about but rarely explored time in Witcher history, but it’s the characters and their short time together that will stick with me most.”
The Witcher: Blood Origin is set in an elven world 1200 years before the time of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri and tells a tale lost to history: the creation of the first prototype Witcher and the events that led to the pivotal Conjunction of the Spheres, when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.” The four-part prequel series premiered on December 25th and stars Michelle Yeoh, Jacob Collins-Levy, Sophia Brown, and Laurence O’Farain, among others.