The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is an animated feature film from Netflix extends the story of the Netflix live action series The Witcher. While the series is an adaptation of the stories from Andrzej Sapkowski’s series of novels, this anime-style film from director Kwang Il Han tells the backstory of the witcher Vesemir and the sacking of Kaer Morhen that resulted in this world’s shortage of witchers. Both Vesemir and Kaer Morhen will be part of Season 2 of The Witcher coming December 17, and this film should enrich your Season 2 experience if you’ve been following the series.
The film itself is beautiful to watch with intriguing characters and engaging storytelling. It has the style of a modern 2D anime like Attack on Titan. Be warned, though, that it also has violence and gore on par with both The Witcher series and with many teen+ anime series (like, again, Attack on Titan). Like its live-action counterpart, the film is definitely not made for either young kids or the faint of heart.
In its storytelling, the film makes no assumptions that you have read the books or played the games. The books and games do feature some of these characters and refer to the events depicted in the film, but the film is a completely original backstory for those characters and events. That said, the film is easier to connect to if you’ve at least seen Season 1 of The Witcher series.
Deglan (Graham McTavish) and Vesemir (Theo James)
Nightmare of the Wolf gives us a peek at some witcher kids that we’ll see all grown up in Season 2.
If you do want to know a bit more before you seeing Nightmare of the Wolf (without any spoilers), here’s the scoop:
Both novel readers and those who played the Witcher games from CD PROJEKT RED will recognize Vesemir as the mentor of Geralt, the main protagonist that gives the Witcher stories their name. They will also recognize Kaer Morhen as an old keep where witchers trained from childhood and where they gathered annually to live out each winter season.
The film gives us a glance at Vesemir’s life before Kaer Morhen, his trials to become a witcher, and his early life as a witcher around the time that Kaer Morhen was sacked. The sacking of Kaer Morhen was an event mentioned briefly in Season 1 of the Netflix series, and I suspect Season 2 will describe it in more detail. This film reveals the history leading up to that attack and how it all played out.
Tom Canton, who plays elven leader Filavandrel in The Witcher live action series, also voices Filavandrel in The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
Definitely check out The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf! Not only is it the perfect companion for Netflix series fans, but book and game fans should also have fun seeing familiar faces and references and an adventurous young Vesemir in action!
Have you seen The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf? What did you think? Share your reactions in the comments.
It wouldn’t be The Witcher without a steamy bath scene.
Hey fellow nerds! Before you dive back into that gaming session or start your next binge-watch, here’s the deal with Couch Soup: we’re a completely independent pop culture site run by genuine fans who get just as hyped as you do about the latest games, comics, movies, and TV shows. No corporate overlords, no AI-generated content, just real people who know their Metroid from their Mass Effect.
Unlike the big corporate sites, we don’t chase clicks or stir up drama. Sure, we might have some hot takes (looking at you, controversial season finale), but they come from a place of genuine passion and respect for the creators and fandoms we cover.
Want to support what we do and join what we think is the coolest community of pop culture enthusiasts on the internet? Check out our supporter tiers – each packed with perks that’ll level up your fandom experience. Every contribution helps keep us independent and lets us keep nerding out with you!
Thanks for being part of our quest – now, back to our regularly scheduled geekery!
Stephanie is a proud Gen-Xer from Raleigh, North Carolina, who has found interesting ways to combine her professional experience in training, writing, and editing with her odd array of hobbies, from fire dancing to video games. Behind the scenes, Stef thrives on finding patterns, cutting out cruft, and bringing order to chaos as a Level 48 Druid... (a.k.a. program manager).
Dream Sequence gave me insomnia. Is there something in my dreams that’s out to get me? This nightmarish narrative from Blumhouse, Realm, and iHeart Radio is the perfect horror podcast to close out the spooky season
Lust from Beyond by Movie Games Lunarium is an unabashed homage to Giger and Lovecraft, twisting fantasy and horror with perverse design and sexual desire. But the newly released M version tones down the gore and sex for a more tailored story adventure so that you can enjoy the disturbing nature of this world with a more subtle experience. Let’s dive in.
2024 has begun with a sizzling start with the announcement of The Mandalorian and Grogu film and Ahsoka season 2. Here are what these projects mean for Star Wars fans.
