Well this was some surprising news over the weekend folks. Henry Cavill leaves The Witcher after Season 3 and will be replaced as Geralt by Liam Hemsworth. Now, the first anyone knew about this was an Instagram post by Cavill himself. The star announced that he was leaving the role after Season 3 (already filmed) and that Hemsworth would take over. Here is the Link, and below is exactly what Cavill posted.
“My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season 4. In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf.”
“As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men. Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find.”
Now, as you can imagine, fans of The Witcher are stunned and saddened by this news. Nothing against Hemsworth, but fans enjoyed Cavill as Geralt almost universally. However talk has since turned to what the reasons are behind this move from Cavill? It seems there’s an obvious connection to made with Cavill’s return as Superman going forward for DC. Is it as simple as a scheduling issue? Was Cavill forced to choose and made the most sensible choice for his career? Maybe, however there could be potentially other factors as well.
WHY?
Here is what Grace Randolph had to say about the situation.
So much for him being a hardcore fan of the show and committed to 7 seasons like he previously said 🤷♀️
— Grace Randolph (@GraceRandolph) October 29, 2022
Seems like a less charitable take to me, but what do I know? Randolph has sure fire contacts at DC, but she’s never seemed a Cavill fan. That’s me being charitable. However fans are convinced, rightly or wrongly that this decision by Cavill was made for completely different reasons. Much of the fan base seem to think that Cavill left the show because he was tired with fighting with the showrunners and writers about the changes they were making to the books. It would be fair to say most fans of The Witcher books were less than pleased with some of the seemingly needless plot changes, especially in Season 2.
Cavill himself was quoted across Season 1-3 talking about how he was always trying to make scenes more accurate to the books, especially when it comes to Geralt’s character.
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Therefore, fans think he had finally had enough, as previously he had said he was committed to all seven seasons as long as the writing quality remained high. There is now even an online petition set up to keep Cavill and change the writers. You can find it here, though I’m not promoting as an option because I agree. I’m simply presenting the complete picture to our readers. I very much doubt anything will change now and I don’t see the point of thee campaigns to be honest.
What I think is relevant here though, is that a large portion of the fanbase was already unhappy with the adaptation and angry at the writers.
Trouble In Writers Room?
I didn’t cover this previously, but former writer on The Witcher Beau DeMayo, discussing his work on X-Men ’97 recently posted this on his Instagram stories, link Here.
“I’ve been on show – namely Witcher – where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material.)”
“It’s a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos, and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.”
This was then rejected by another member of The Witcher crew. As you can see below, fellow writer Matt D’Ambrosio responded in a…well, have a look for yourself.
I cannot find the original tweet, but the internet be what it is. Therefore the image you see above was posted on a Reddit sub I frequent and I had to grab the image. Perhaps it’s deleted, maybe just buried, I don’t know?
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Does any of this have any relevance to why Cavill left? At this point in time, you have all the information anyone else does, unless directly involved. The statement from Netflix has been brief and so far there has been no comment for showrunner Lauren Hissrich.
It’s official: The Witcher is returning for Season 4, and Henry Cavill will be handing his swords to Liam Hemsworth as the new Geralt of Rivia after Season 3. Welcome to the Witcher family, @LiamHemsworth!
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) October 29, 2022
Read more: https://t.co/ABQMdqkzXX pic.twitter.com/xyIaRBbiRT
Perhaps in time we will get some answers? However if this was purely a scheduling decision from Cavill, would he not just explain that? With Liam Hemsworth already signed up has this been brewing for a while, possibly since Season 3 filmed? Therefore right now it’s an intriguing story that fans are already making their minds up on.
Problem as I see it, is that unhappy fans, loss of lead star, replacement not popular, problems in writers rooms, all point towards a show with issues. Will Season 4 even happen, and if it does, will there be a season 5 is ratings drop off a cliff?
What do you think of the news as Henry Cavill leaves The Witcher and will be replaced as Geralt by Liam Hemsworth in Season 4? As always, thoughts below.
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