The Witcher will see a major change in its upcoming season 4 as Henry Cavill will no longer play Geralt of Rivia, and instead, Liam Hemsworth will take his place – and Cavill’s exit is actually worse than it seems. As The Witcher prepares for its third season, Netflix and Henry Cavill made the announcement of him retiring from playing Geralt and passing the torch to Liam Hemsworth, which was received with mixed reactions from the audience. The Witcher is a series of novels and short stories by Andrzej Sapkowski that became widely famous after their adaptation into video games, and in 2019, it made the jump to Netflix and quickly became one of its most popular titles.
During its first season, The Witcher followed Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and Ciri (Freya Allan) in different places and points in time, with their paths converging towards the end of the season. Season 2 opted for a linear timeline and saw Ciri training at Kaer Morhen while Yennefer struggled to get her powers back, and by the end of the season, the three of them were finally together. The Witcher season 3 will see Geralt and Yennefer doing their best to keep Ciri safe from everyone going after her, and now it will also be Cavill’s final season as Geralt – and due to his influence in the show and Geralt, his exit is worse than it seems.
How Henry Cavill Made Geralt Of Rivia Better
Henry Cavill did for Netflix’s The Witcher a lot more than just play the main character, as he actually helped shape Geralt’s TV/streaming version into what he now is. Cavill has been quite open about his love for The Witcher and how much he wanted to play Geralt, and he reportedly bothered his agents about getting him a meeting with Netflix when he heard the streaming giant was developing a The Witcher TV series. However, when Netflix agreed to meet with him, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich didn’t have the script ready and didn’t see the point of having a meeting so early, so Cavill was turned down. Months later, now with the script ready, Hissrich met with Cavill and he was given the role.
During the first season of The Witcher, Geralt was mostly non-verbal, communicating through grunts and facial expressions that made way for countless memes, Hissrich shared she worked with Cavill to make Geralt seem “incredibly smart” without talking too much and keeping his dry wit at the same time, but for season 2, Cavill actually pushed for a more book-accurate Geralt. In the books, Geralt is actually quite talkative, so viewers could hear Geralt talk a lot more in season 2. This helped Cavill bring out Geralt’s personality a lot more than in season 1, thus winning fans over with his performance and improving the character.
Cavill's Exit Could Change The Witcher's Geralt For The Worse
Even though The Witcher has only been around for two seasons, with the third one arriving soon, Cavill has already made the character of Geralt of Rivia his. Even during the first season where Geralt barely spoke, Cavill was able to communicate what Geralt was going through with a simple grunt and just one word, which even though was often mocked in memes, was also a great performance. Season 2 saw a more mature and open Geralt who did his best to keep Ciri safe, and Cavill’s chemistry with Chalotra and Allan was even more evident, which obviously helped the series a lot. Now, while Liam Hemsworth can make a good Geralt of Rivia, he will most likely be a different version of the character, even if he follows the same line that Cavill has. Hemsworth might also bring some changes to the character, which might or might not work depending on what they are and why they are made, and the biggest risk is his version of Geralt feeling disconnected from Cavill’s and the rest of the characters. Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s The Witcher is what he is thanks to Henry Cavill, and Liam Hemsworth has a big challenge on his hands.