The Witcher franchise has not had much success with spinoffs, and that is especially the case for one that has been hidden in Netflix’s vault for several years now. With Season 4 well on its way, fans of the fantasy series will finally be treated to more adventures featuring Geralt of Rivia. However, it seems viewers will also be treated to another spinoff that has finally gotten a positive update. What’s on Netflix reports that The Rats: a Witcher Tale will be released as a film by Netflix to coincide with the release of The Witcher Season 4. For the uninitiated, the spinoff was previously planned to be a series, but Netflix shut down production in 2023 before all the episodes could be completed. Since then, a few episodes’ worth of television have lain dormant in Netflix’s vault until now. It seems the streamer intends to cut up whatever footage they have into a feature-length film, and potentially debut it before the next season of The Witcher. It’s unclear when The Rats will be released, but Netflix plans to premiere Season 4 on October 30. The Rats follows a group of teenage thieves who eventually meet Ciri (Freya Allan) during the events of The Witcher. The prequel was directed by Mairzee Almas (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters), based on a script by Haily Hall. The cast features Dolph Lundgren as Brehen, Ben Radcliffe as Giselher, Christelle Elwin as Mistle, Fabian McCallum as Kayleigh, Aggy K. Adams as Iskra, Juliette Alexandra as Reef, and Connor Crawford as Asse.
“Six teenage thieves must rely on their criminal skills as they plan the biggest heist of their careers against the most dangerous crime ring in the kingdom.”

‘The Rats: a Witcher Tale’ Described as a “Disaster”

Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan in ‘The Witcher’Credit: Netflix

The Rats: a Witcher Tale will finally see the light of day soon on Netflix, but everything that has been reported on the long-awaited spinoff does not inspire much confidence. In a recent report, sources told Redanian Intelligence that “everything went wrong” on The Rats, as the production became a “disaster” behind the scenes. In fact, one quote mentioned that it was worse than The Witcher: Blood Origin, a limited series that debuted in 2022 to poor reviews. Blood Origin landed a 29% score on Rotten Tomatoes, so we can only imagine what could have possibly forced Netflix to stop filming The Rats two months into production. With The Rats now being released as a film on Netflix, it remains to be seen if it will debut before or after The Witcher Season 4. No matter the case, viewers will finally get to return to the fantasy world when the parent show comes back this fall. The long-awaited season will feature Liam Hemsworth making his debut as Geralt of Rivia, taking over the role from Henry Cavill. Fan reception has not been the most positive, but an official verdict will be reached when Season 4 debuts on October 30, over two years after the release of Season 3.

Release Date

December 20, 2019

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich

Directors

Stephen Surjik, Charlotte Brändström, Edward Bazalgette, Loni Peristere, Louise Hooper, Bola Ogun, Alex Garcia Lopez, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah O’Gorman

Writers

Haily Hall, Clare Higgins, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Jenny Klein, Tania Lotia

Anya Chalotra

Yennefer of Vengerberg