So what’s the real reason Henry Cavill left The Witcher? On Monday when I covered the weekends news about Cavill leaving The Witcher to be replaced by Liam Hemsworth from Season 4, I covered a few angles. Claims that were made here and there, and what the fanbase of The Witcher felt. Well, it’s fair to say The Witcher fanbase feels Cavill left because he was unhappy with the adaptation. That is an easy sell, since those fans are also unhappy with the adaptation from the books. However is it true?

Well one source, who I consider the number 1 for accurate Witcher leaks, says yes. Redanian Intelligence covers more than just Witcher news, however The Witcher is their main love. We’ve covered countless news stories that originated at RI and then panned out to be true, therefore I trust the outlet when they revealed some information they say they sat on from 2021. Essentially, the outlet heard a rumor from sources during the filming of Season 2. The rumor was that Cavill could be replaced as the lead in the show. The outlet didn’t run it because soon after this information dropped it was announced that Cavill would return for Season 3 of the show, which finished filming just a month or so ago.

Ultimately it’s now looking like Cavill was thinking about leaving after Season 2. However a  bigger deal for Season 3 saw the actor stick around, but only on a short term deal for that one season. What is clearly evident now is that Cavill chose not to sign on again for Season 4. Here is the information from RI.

Cavill’s Rumored Reason To Quit The Witcher

Back in Summer 2021, when The Witcher Season 2 was in post-production and Season 3 hadn’t been renewed yet, we heard from a source that recasting Geralt was a growing possibility at Netflix. The reason for that was that Henry Cavill was considering leaving the series after Season 2 because he and the producers “weren’t seeing eye to eye” regarding content and Geralt’s role in the The Witcher.

At the time we believed Henry wasn’t 100% serious about it and would not really go through with leaving the series since he fought so hard to get that role. So instead of reporting on it, we chose to sit on this information and see where it goes.

And indeed, our beliefs were solidified when Season 3 was officially confirmed in September 2021 and a little later, in November, a report from The Hollywood Reporter appeared saying Cavill had “just renewed” his contract and would be getting $1 Million per episode for Season 3 as opposed to $400K, his earlier The Witcher salary.

After that chronologically came The Witcher Season 2 promo tour. Cavill made it very well known during that tour that he had been pushing for a more book-accurate Geralt as he kept saying a variation of that in almost every interview he gave.

Now Deadline in their coverage of this big story said Cavill had only signed a short term deal (S3) and had since decided to move on. Given all the information at our disposal, and without any official word it seems this is the best summary of the situation, in my mind.

Cavill fought to get the role of Geralt in The Witcher. However, throughout Season 1 and 2 Cavill clashed with the showrunners on the way they were adapting the material. This disagreement almost came to a head post-Season 2, but Cavill was offered a huge salary increase for one more season. After Season 3, whatever the underlying issues were, they were not resolved. As such, Cavill chose to reject another contract.

RELATED: Henry Cavill Leaves The Witcher – Replaced As Geralt By Liam Hemsworth

That might be inaccurate. However what I’m saying is that if we weigh up all the evidence this is the story being painted currently. The outlet has a series of quotes from Cavill about his issues with the showrunners and the fanbase has always felt like Cavill was the one pulling the adaptation back in at times. Ergo, without Cavill, fans are worried the show will suffer greatly. In fact there are fans who are already running campaigns and saying they won’t be back for Season 4.

At the very least, this causes the show problems for Season 3 and 4. Anything the fans don’t like in Season 3 will be used as an example of why Cavill left, whether accurate or not. You know how this goes. Equally, Season 4 will have to be perfection itself for fans not to complain over every little detail. Those fans are now coming into it with an ax to grind. That’s not a good place for the the show to be in.

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