Witcher Role Won't Prevent Henry Cavill From Returning As Superman

Henry Cavill says starring in The Witcher on Netflix hopefully won't stop him from playing Superman again in the DCEU. The Witcher is Netflix's upcoming show, which releases tomorrow, Dec. 20, and Cavill was very interested in playing the leading character, Geralt of Rivia, a role he seems to be deeply invested in.

Cavill first played Superman (aka Kal-El, his given name) back in Zack Snyder's 2013 movie, Man of Steel, and then again for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, and once more recently in the troubled Justice League in 2017, which means it has been a few years since he reprised the role. The Witcher is less of a household name than Superman, but is based on a series of books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski and influenced by a video game series by CD Projekt Red (also based on the books). It's a popular, detail-rich, and often quite grim fantasy series, and has been turned into a TV series and movie before, but neither in English and neither were very successful.

In an interview with Radio Times, Cavill was asked about the chances of him reprising his role as Superman while still working on The Witcher, and Cavill reportedly referenced the “S” symbol on the superhero's outfit, which is a Kryptonian symbol for hope, saying, "I mean, that’s what it stands for, right?"

The interview also talks about Cavill first meeting Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich after calling his agent to try and get the role of Geralt after falling in love with the character from playing the games and reading the books. "You don’t cast someone just because they’re a huge fan of the material. So I met a bunch of other people, and realized very quickly that I couldn’t get Henry’s voice out of my head. And we invited him back, and he was willing to audition for it, which is very rare for an actor of his calibre to sit and read. And I’m so glad that he did," says Hissrich. It sounds like it was a fantastic match for the role and actor.

It's not unusual for an actor to work on multiple roles simultaneously or in quick succession, but Cavill has been subject to a particularly troubled instance of this, through no fault of his own. After Snyder stopped working on Justice League to be with his family after a loss, Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the movie, including an extra six weeks of reshoots. The trouble was, Cavill was already working filming Mission Impossible: Fallout as August Walker. Walker has a mustache, and Superman does not, so Cavill's mustache had to be digitally removed from the Justice League reshoot footage, which was noticeable in certain scenes. This change of directors, and the reshoots that came with it, are where the infamous Snyder Cut gets its beginnings.

No matter what, Cavill's mustache is part of a stand-off between Snyder and Warner Bros. (or a running joke with the Justice League cast - or both) and it might mean Warner Bros. will be hesitant to have Cavill double up on Superman and The Witcher. At least in this case, Geralt of Rivia rarely sports more facial hair than some untamed fuzz.

More: The Witcher: What TIME It Releases On Netflix

The Witcher releases on Netflix tomorrow December 20th.

Source: RadioTimes