With The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf exactly two weeks away from its premiere on Netflix, there’s plenty of excitement over exactly how much Witcher bliss can be packed into the anime feature, and judging from the latest trailer, all signs point to plenty of Vesemir’s backstory making the cut.
Although Nightmare of the Wolf’s runtime is capped at 1 hour and 21 minutes, the movie’s strategic release before The Witcher’s second live-action season will help explore the lore of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, giving newer fans a good look at Geralt’s mentor. Vesemir is set to play a crucial role in The Witcher’s second season, as actor Kim Bodnia takes on a role believed was perfect for Mark Hamill.
The new preview bears some similarities to the previous Nightmare of the Wolf trailer shown during Netflix’s Geeked Week, mostly introducing Vesemir (Theo James) living a carefree lifestyle killing monsters for coin but it does reference important characters like Filavandrel, king of the elves. Most crucially, this preview opens up with possible flashbacks that show how regular boys like Geralt of Rivia were transformed into Witchers, at least before Kaer Morhen’s secret Witcher formulas were lost to time and neglect.
Naturally, this young Vesemir is mostly seen with Tetra (Lara Pulver) by his side in what is definitely a reprise of Geralt and Yennefer’s Witcher plus sorceress combo that is so capable of wreaking havoc against any enemy. Towards the end, Vesemir can be seen fighting alongside other men in a scene that could perhaps be signaling Kaer Morhen’s inevitable fall before becoming the place Geralt and Ciri visit.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf’s biggest advantage is probably the decision to keep its story so close to the live-action show, seeing as both Lauren S. Hissrich and Beau DeMayo oversaw the development of both, including the Witcher story it borrows the most from. This ideal setup should make Vesemir’s transition from young Witcher to wise father figure smoother as the events of Nightmare of the Wolf build the character into what most fans of The Witcher 3 know and love.
Considering this brief glimpse at the creation process for the new Witcher’s, maybe a young animated Henry Cavill lookalike could show up in the Nightmare of the Wolf since, despite Vesemir being at least a hundred years older than Geralt, his own origins do require undergoing the childhood transformation process he still dreams of when thinking about his past.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will premiere exclusively on Netflix on August 23, 2021.
Source: @NetflixGeeked|Twitter