Is 'THE WITCHER' The New Game of Thrones?

I didn’t know what to expect when I first heard of Netflix’s live-action The Witcher, and was even less certain about the casting of its lead. When I first heard the news, I had already been steeped in the video games from CD Projekt Red, and I’d read some of the short stories and books.

Would a live-action adaptation be a disaster? Would it be impossible to accept after spending so much time with these characters across all these games and stories? I had a pretty firm version of who Geralt of Rivia was in my head already, and I wasn’t certain I could shake that.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

The Witcher is a dark, slickly produced and oftentimes somewhat hard to follow fantasy production that Netflix and showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich have adapted from the books by Andrzej Sapkowski. Henry Cavill stars as Geralt of Rivia, the titular Witcher—a monster hunter and a magically created mutant riding across The Continent on his horse Roach, looking for work and bedding beautiful women.

I’ve seen the first five episodes, out of a total of eight in Season 1, so this is not a final review of the season. It’s also mostly spoiler-free, so have no fear of reading anything but the most basic of premises. I hope to have a second review later on when I can discuss everything in more detail from start to finish.