SDCC 2019: The Witcher Showrunner Says Any Sex Or Violence Will Be To Drive The Story

The Witcher is one of the most anticipated upcoming shows in the second of half of 2019. It's an adaptation of the acclaimed fantasy novels, that also inspired the hugely popular game series, and it hits Netflix later this year. The Witcher also features at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, and ahead of its panel, showrunner Lauren Hissrich has spoken about what to expect from the series. [Update: The panel has arrived, bringing the first footage of The Witcher and a first trailer.]

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hissrich explained it will be a very dark show that is not aimed at a younger audience. "I've been rewatching dailies and my kids aren't allowed to look at the screen anymore after one of them snuck around and saw something they shouldn't have seen and it scared him," she explained. "It's a very adult show. I will add it was important to me that any violence or sex drives the story and is not there just for shock value. I think audiences are really savvy and know when we're doing stuff to just shock them versus do stuff that really drives the story."

Hissrich also spoke about what will set The Witcher apart from other fantasy shows--most obviously Game of Thrones. "The monster and horror aspect," she said. "It's been done occasionally on fantasy shows but it takes a backseat to magic a lot of the time. Geralt's a monster hunter so from the very beginning we talked about how to show these monsters and the humans they interact with.

"I think people are going to be surprised by how many monsters we were able to do and how integral they are to story. It really feels like the monster stories become analogs for bigger things happening in the world right now in different political phenomenons."

As for star Henry Cavill, Hissrich revealed that he was so keen to play the role of Geralt that he met with her right at the beginning of the show's development process. "I met 207 other possible Geralts," she said. "And I came back to Henry at the end. The first time I met him I hadn't even started writing the scripts yet. And once I started writing I couldn't get Henry's voice out of my head for the character. Looking at the final product, it's really exciting. He embodies Geralt in a way that I don't think anybody else could."

Although we are yet to see any footage from The Witcher, some images have been released. The first batch were a series of character shots, while a subsequent image showed Geralt riding Roach.

The Witcher SDCC panel takes place on July 19 in Hall H at 2:15 PM to 3 PM PT. It's possible that a release date and some footage will be revealed, so check back for all SDCC updates on GameSpot.