The Witcher just dropped its first official teaser for season four.
But fans are still reeling from the fact that the titular character has been recast from the beloved Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth, who will portray the character for the last two seasons of The Witcher (season 5 has been confirmed as the final season).
It’s been nearly three years since Cavill shocked fans by announcing that season three, which premiered in 2023, would be his last. The Superman star first joined the Netflix adaptation in 2018 after being chosen from more than 200 hopefuls. A longtime fan of both the video games and Andrzej Sapkowski’s original novels, Cavill even campaigned for the part himself.
Ironically, it was his deep love for the source material that may have ultimately pushed him to walk away.
Cavill’s departure was confirmed on October 29, 2022. Just two days earlier, he hinted at his growing frustrations during an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
“It’s also important to know that if you realise you’re doing the wrong thing, that’s when you stop doing the wrong thing. You don’t just keep going just because, because that leads you down a dark path,” he told host Josh Horowitz.
The official reason was never revealed. Some reports pointed to scheduling conflicts, while others suggested his contract was limited. But Cavill himself had already spoken about clashes with the showrunners.
“I wanted to try and bring as much of the book’s Geralt into Season 2 as possible, and as much as the vision, the plot, and storylines would allow,” he told the Philippine Star in December 2021.
“The toughest part for me was finding that balance between the showrunners’ vision and my love for the books… The tricky bit for me was finding Geralt from the books’ place within that and being able to serve both as much as I could.”
Netflix tapped Australian actor Liam Hemsworth to carry the franchise forward. The younger brother of Thor star Chris Hemsworth, Liam is best known for playing Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games opposite Jennifer Lawrence.
Cavill offered nothing but support for his successor.
“In my stead, the fantastic Mr Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf… Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find,” he said in an Instagram statement.
Hemsworth, in turn, said he was ready for the challenge.
“As a Witcher fan, I’m over the moon about the opportunity to play Geralt of Rivia. Henry Cavill has been an incredible Geralt, and I’m honoured that he’s handing me the reins and allowing me to take up the White Wolf’s blades for the next chapter of his adventure.”