The Witcher canceled: New rumor suggests Netflix is ending hit series

Is The Witcher canceled? That’s what new rumors circulating online seem to suggest and it’s not a far stretch for Netflix given most shows end around the five-season mark.

Henry Cavill might be getting the last laugh after all. As Liam Hemsworth prepares to take over as The Witcher in the show’s upcoming fourth season, rumors are circulating which suggest that Netflix is about to pull the plug on the show. That’s right, there is a chance The Witcher may be coming to an end sooner than many might have expected.

According to reports from Redanian Intelligence, which prides itself on being the home of the latest news about fantasy series, Netflix is looking at bringing the show to an end with its already renewed fifth season.

"“There’s no official confirmation for this yet, but we’ve been hearing recently that yes, Season 5 is very likely the final season of The Witcher on Netflix,” Redanian Intelligence reports."

It’s important to note that at this time, Netflix has not canceled The Witcher; however, the rumors about the show’s possible end do make sense. Netflix is known for ending shows after five or six seasons.

Stranger Things and You will both be wrapping up their runs with their upcoming fifth seasons, and Netflix recently canceled Disenchantment after five seasons as well. So to end The Witcher with season 5 wouldn’t be a crazy decision and it would make sense for the show to come to a natural progression.

The Witcher has at least two more seasons coming

During an interview in May, The Witcher casting director Sophie Holland told Deadline Netflix was gearing up to start filming on season 4 with a short gap planned before they went right into filming season 5.

"“We’re just about to start filming on season four with Liam Hemsworth and there will be a short gap then we go straight into season five,” Holland teased when promoting the show."

Now Holland’s comments came before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes kicked off so filming has not yet been able to begin on either season of the show, but the plan seems to remain the same.

Once a new agreement is reached between the studios and SAG-AFTRA, Netflix is expected to begin production on season 4 of The Witcher but filming might not begin until 2024 paving the way for a 2025 premiere. Shortly after season 4 is finished filming, the assumption is that Netflix will begin work on season 5 shortly which should help prevent a long gap between seasons.

The Witcher is running out of source material

While the reports about The Witcher being canceled are nothing more than rumors at the moment, there is no denying that the show is running out of source material which makes the idea of the show ending seem quite plausible.

The show is based on the book series of the same name by author Andrzej Sapkowski which consists of eight books in total.

The first season of the show adapted the first two books in the series, The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. Season 2 pulled from the two books as well while also drawing inspiration from Blood of Elves, aka the third book in the franchise. In season 3, The Witcher drew inspiration from the fourth and fifth books of the franchise, Time of Contempt and Baptism of Fire. This leaves just two books for the show to adapt: The Tower of the Swallow and The Lady of the Lake.

Now before you ask, yes there are eight books in the series but the final book in the series, Season of Storms returns to the events of the first book, The Last Wish. As such, it’s likely that particular book will not come into play with Netflix’s series.

With just two books left to pull from, it’s been theorized that season 4 will adapt The Tower of the Swallow, while season 5 will adapt The Lady of the Lake in bringing the show to a close.

Combine the lack of source material with the rumors about the show ending, and it definitely seems likely that The Witcher‘s time is coming to a close.