Tomek Biginski, an executive producer on Netflix‘s The Witcher, believes significant changes must be made to the source material to simply the story for audiences.
Per Redanian Intelligence, which translated an interview conducted by the Polish site Wyborcza, The Witcher’s creative felt it necessary to “simply” the story so that a global audience could understand the story originally written by author Andrzej Sapkowski. “When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers, with different experiences, from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are Americans, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary,” Biginksi said. “It’s painful for us, and for me too, but the higher level of nuance and complexity will have a smaller range, it won’t reach people. Sometimes it may go too far, but we have to make these decisions and accept them.
The executive producer doubled down on his explanation, placing some of the blame on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube for reducing the attention span of younger generations. In a separate interview conducted by the YouTube channel Imponderabilia, Biginksi states his belief that “children” are unable to follow more complicated stories because short-form videos have made them “resilient for longer content, for long and complicated chains of cause and effect.”
Changing The Witcher’s Story
Ever since The Witcher Season 1 debuted on Netflix in late 2019, many fans have criticized the series for making major changes to the source material. These include the introduction of original characters and significant changes to established characters, including Geralt. Several reports have suggested that star Henry Cavill departed the sure due to disagreements over how he should portray the titular monster hunter with the actor allegedly insisting the story stick closer to Sapkowski’s books.
The Witcher Season 1-3 is now streaming on Netflix.
