Ciri in The Witcher season 3 – Picture: Netflix
While the third season of Netflix’s The Witcher was in production, the streamer quietly started the development of The Rats, a new prequel series centered on a group of teenage renegades who were introduced at the end of Season 3. Here’s everything we know so far about the new upcoming spin-off that’s scheduled to arrive in 2024.
The Witcher writer, Haily Hall, is on board with the project as the lead writer and will also serve as showrunner. Shadow and Bone and The Sandman director Mairzee Almas is attached to direct an unknown amount of episodes. The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich and executive producer Tomek Baginski are also producing this series.
The Rats series still hasn’t been officially announced by Netflix even after the release of season 3, volume 1, but it has been common knowledge for many months now with cast and crew already actively filming on location.
The initial information about the series was published by Redanian Intelligence back in November 2022. What’s on Netflix also has sources that stated the project was in development, with it being internally called Riff Raff.
Here’s everything you need to know:
What’s the plot of The Rats?
Picture: Aggy K. Adams/Instagram
The plot of The Rats isn’t based on any book or storyline from The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski, but rather takes the characters and creates its own backstory for them before they meet Ciri at the end of The Witcher Season 3.
So far, we only have a short logline:
“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.”
Who is cast in The Witcher spin-off The Rats?
Cast Grid for Netflix’s The Rats series
The gang of teenage criminals called The Rats consists of Giselher, Mistle, Kayleigh, Iskra, Reef, and Asse.
They are played by Ben Radcliffe, Christelle Elwin, Fabian McCallum, Aggy K. Adams, Juliette Alexandra, and Connor Crawford, respectively. They all make their first appearance in The Witcher Season 3 and will reprise their roles in this spin-off.
Additionally, the 80s and 90s action star Dolph Lundgren has been cast as a ruthless rogue witcher from the School of the Cat called Brehen. Brehen briefly appears in Andrzej Sapkowski’s Season of Storms where he has a confrontation with Geralt of Rivia. In The Rats, Brehen’s role is unclear.
Other suspected cast include Deoudone van der Merwe, Warren Masemola, Stevel Marc, Max Boast, and Daniela Norman.
What’s the production status of The Rats?
The Rats series got into production under the codename ‘Riff Raff’ in Cape Town, South Africa. Filming started there in late April and was originally expected to conclude in September 2023, however, as Redanian Intelligence reports in July 2023, the series has wrapped filming.
Behind-the-scenes pictures from production on Riff Raff / The Rats spin-off
That’s led to speculation about what form The Rats will eventually materialize in. The number of episodes in The Rats is currently unknown, but it could be as low as four, like The Witcher: Blood Origin.
What’s the Netflix release date for The Rats?
Netflix still hasn’t even announced the series yet, let alone its release date. With that said, multiple people attached to the show list the show as coming out in 2024. Given that we know that the upcoming follow-up anime movie is coming out in late 2024, we’d be safe to assume this may be out as soon as spring/summer 2024.
Are you looking forward to Netflix’s The Rats spin-off? Let us know in the comments down below.
Netflix Synopsis: "As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where they hope to uncover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line – or risk losing each other forever.
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