When is Season 3 of The Witcher coming out? Netflix series release date - and Blood Origin spin-off explained

Season 2 of The Witcher debuted on Netflix on 17 December 2021, and has once again been enthralling audiences with another series of epic fantasy episodes.

Superman himself, Henry Cavill returned to the title role in the second season of Netflix’s fantasy adventure based on the best-selling series penned by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

The first series may not have been as universally successful as Game of Thrones, but it filled a gap in the lives of some of those hooked on the adaptation of George RR Martin’s works.

And now fans are clamouring for a third series. But will there be one, and what can we expect from it?

Here is everything you need to know.

Will there be Season 3 of The Witcher?

In short, the answer is ‘yes’.

In fact, Netflix announced that there was to be a third series of The Witcher before the second season had even premiered.

Season 3 was revealed to be in development for the streaming company on 25 September as part of Netflix’s ‘Tudum’ fan event, where it also revealed other upcoming projects in the “Witcherverse”.

The streamer also announced a second feature-length anime instalment, following on from 2021’s The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, as well as as-yet-untitled new kids and families series.

Revealing the news on Twitter, The Witcher’s official account wrote: “Toss a coin to our growing Witcher universe!

“We can officially announce The Witcher Season 3, along with a second anime feature film, and a new Kids and Family series set in the world of The Witcher.”

It remains to be seen just how a family friendly version of The Witcher would work - given the original series penchant for violence and nudity - but Netflix has assured viewers it will be “fun filled”.

What is The Witcher: Blood Origin?

Besides the new announcement, fans also have the already revealed The Witcher: Blood Origin to look forward to, a six-part prequel miniseries.

Set 1200 years before the events of the main television series, Blood Origin will depict the creation of the first Witcher, as well as the events leading to the "Conjunction of the Spheres".

Filming on the series began in August 2021 in UK, and the finished product is expected to debut on Netflix sometime in 2022.

When will The Witcher Season 3 be released?

While it’s no doubt exciting that another instalment of the Henry Cavill-starring fantasy epic is on the way, fans may have an uncomfortably long wait for it to arrive.

As part of the press junket for the season series of the show, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told TechRadar that production is still only in its very early stages.

Hissrich admitted that the writing team had only just completed work on the scripts, and that the "creative process was only just starting".

It’s difficult to even estimate when the next season could be upon us by looking at the time between the first two series.

Season 2 was released almost exactly two years after the first (one year, 11 months and 27 days after it, to be precise).

That would suggest we could expect Season 3 in December 2023, but the production of Season 2 was delayed due to the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and an injury sustained by star Henry Cavill during filming.

It could be that the wait won’t be quite as long for the third entry, but it’s hard to tell at this point.

When can we expect from Season 3?

“I’m really thrilled with how the season is shaping up because it’s based on my favourite book in the saga, which is The Time of Contempt,” Hissrich told TechRadar.

“I feel like seasons 1 and 2 have been laying the playing field for everything huge that’s about to happen,” she added.

“We have the scripts, and now we’ll bring directors on, the actors back in, and really start delving in deeper and reflecting back and making sure that it’s the perfect season.”