On December 25th, the first series offshoot of the fantasy show "The Witcher" will appear on Netflix. The four-part miniseries "The Witcher: Blood Origin" tells a prequel to the witcher Geralt of Rivia (previously: Henry Cavill, from season four: Liam Hemsworth). The prequel series is set more than a thousand years before the events of The Witcher. A recently released teaser trailer for "Blood Origin" has a little more than two million views after around ten days on YouTube, which is quite modest for "The Witcher" standards. But much more striking about the preview video is how fans rate it.

In the late afternoon of November 21, around 165,000 YouTube users rated the "Blood Origin" trailer. About 40,000 of them liked the preview video, while almost 125,000 users gave it a thumbs-down. Thus, more than three times as many users who rate the trailer give a "dislike" for the video - a scathing reaction from the fans.

Ultimately, one can only speculate about the reasons for this. But there is a suspicion that the departure of "The Witcher" star Henry Cavill (39) could have angered the fans. The series star announced in late October that he would be stepping down as main character Geralt of Rivia after season three. The Australian actor Liam Hemsworth (32), who is also known from the "Hunger Games" film series, then takes over the character from Cavill so that the series can continue.

The "The Witcher" fans reacted shocked to this surprising announcement. On social networks, many vented their displeasure and declared that they did not want to continue watching the series after Cavill's departure. This fan frustration may now also be discharged in the "Blood Origin" trailer.

It also remains to be seen whether the new "The Witcher" series will be able to convince. As "Entertainment Weekly" reports, Netflix subsequently reduced the number of episodes. Originally "Blood Origin" was supposed to have six episodes, but now only four will appear.

"The Witcher: Blood Origin" will be about the creation of the first witcher and the so-called conjunction of the spheres, a significant event in the world once conceived by template author Andrzej Sapkowski (74). Screen legend Michelle Yeoh (60) takes on one of the main roles in the series. The third season of The Witcher is expected to hit Netflix in mid-2023. She will then be the last one starring Cavill.