What just happened? Here’s some potentially bad news for fans of The Witcher show but good news for those who love Superman. Geek God Henry Cavill will not portray Geralt of Rivia in the fourth season of the Netflix series, passing the torch to Liam Hemsworth. It appears that the actor either won’t have time to play the White Wolf due to his return as The Man of Steel, or he’s not happy with the show’s deviation from its source material.
Netflix writes that even though the third season of The Witcher has yet to debut, it’s already been renewed for a fourth season, but with one significant change: Henry Cavill is stepping down as Geralt to be replaced by Liam Hemsworth in season 4.
“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,” said Cavill in a statement. “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.”
There was a lot of pushback from internet commentators in 2018 when Netflix announced Cavill would be taking on the role of Geralt in its upcoming Netflix series. It was felt the then-35-year-old was too young to play the grizzled monster hunter and that someone like Mads Mikkelsen would be a better choice. His screen test, complete with a cheap, Lord Raiden-style wig, didn’t help convince people.
Thankfully, Cavill won the hearts of Witcher fans with an excellent portrayal—his love of the books and games, and all things nerdy, has made him even more endearing—so it’s sad to hear he will be leaving before season 4. The British actor doesn’t seem to be ruling out a return as Geralt at some point, though it seems unlikely.
There’s debate over whether Cavill is leaving due to scheduling conflicts caused by his return as Superman, or if it’s related to problems on show itself; there are reports that its writers hate the books and games.
henry cavill has been fighting the show-runners for years and it looks like he finally gave up his fight 😢 pic.twitter.com/2E7nlAKtgK
— ariel ‘ (@cursedhat) October 29, 2022
Hemsworth says he is also a Witcher fan, but that hasn’t stopped some Twitter users from expressing outrage and disappointment over Cavill’s departure.
We’ll be waiting a long time before discovering if Hemsworth also proves the critics wrong. Season 3, which stars Cavill, doesn’t arrive until the summer of 2023, so season 4 will likely be here in 2024 at the earliest.
In related news, Cavill recently revealed how many hours a day he likes to spend gaming, most of them presumably playing Total War: Warhammer 3. He also talked about his favorite geek possession.
