3 Years After Henry Cavill's Exit, The Witcher Finally Returns To Its Roots For Next Major Release

Despite being one of the most popular modern fantasy franchises, The Witcher is in a bit of an odd place in 2026. Netflix's The Witcher series, led by Henry Cavill, had initially been met with critical acclaim and an outpouring of support from fans; however, that support quickly deteriorated after seasons 2 and 3 of the series featured a few heavy departures from Andrzej Sapkowski's source material. Meanwhile, over on the game side of things, while anticipation for The Witcher IV is high, Ciri's latest adventure has no concrete release date, leaving fans in limbo.

Despite the franchise's odd place, however, there is still a great deal of love and respect for Andrzej Sapkowski's world and characters, which is why it's no surprise that the franchise's next major release is going back to The Witcher's roots with Sapkowski's first Witcher book, The Last Wish.

Released on August 11th, Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher: The Last Wish HC is the latest in Dark Horse Comics' series of Witcher books adapting Sapkowski's first Witcher short story collection. Sapkowski himself is working on the book alongside writer Marcin Zwierzchowski and artist Guillermo Fajardo. The 72-page tome is available now, but it's only a prelude to the ultimate Last Wish collection.

The Witcher's Next Massive Release Is Coming This December

Dark Horse and Sapkowski have teamed up for five The Witcher graphic novels prior to The Last Wish: The Witcher, A Grain of Truth, The Lesser Evil, A Question of Price, and The Edge of the World. According to comic information and review aggregate League of Comic Geeks, reception to these has been very positive, with A Grain of Truth earning a 4.4 rating out of 5.

Each of the six The Witcher graphic novels released by Dark Horse has adapted a story found in The Last Wish. With Sapkowski's involvement, these adaptations are about as faithful to the source material as can reasonably be expected. Given the controversy surrounding Netflix's The Witcher series, that's likely a huge relief to fans of the series.

In addition to the six graphic novels already released, Dark Horse is planning on collecting the adaptation series into one giant tome titled Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher: The Last Wish--The Complete Collection HC. The book will be 384 pages, cost $124.99, and will be released on December 15th.

What's Next For The Witcher After The Last Wish?

Depending on how the Last Wish adaptations sell, it's entirely possible that Dark Horse will team up with Sapkowski again to adapt The Sword of Destiny. The second Witcher short story collection features another 6 tales, meaning Dark Horse could take what worked well with their The Last Wish graphic novels and replicate it.

Beyond the realm of comics, though, the franchise is still at a crossroads. Season 4 of Netflix's The Witcher series wasn't just met with fan backlash for replacing Henry Cavill with Liam Hemsworth, it was also met with rougher waters critically. Rotten Tomatoes has The Witcher season 4 at 59% rotten, nearly 10 points lower than the series' previous critical low point, season 1, which earned 68%.

With fan reception to the graphic novel adaptations being overwhelmingly positive, however, it's clear that The Witcher fans are hungry for something that sticks closer to Sapkowski's beloved source material. The Witcher is a beloved series, and fans can only hope Netflix takes note of Dark Horse's success and tries to replicate.