The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich defends their decision to recast Geralt of Rivia. For two seasons of Netflix's fantasy adaptation, Henry Cavill's performance as the magically enhanced monster hunter has garnered much acclaim from critics and audiences alike. It was a massive surprise when Cavill announced he would be leaving the show after its upcoming third season and replaced by Liam Hemsworth for season 4. Though an official explanation has yet to be provided, reports and speculation claim Cavill left the show due to it straying too far from its source material – Andrzej Sapkowski's books.
In a recent interview with Total Film (via Slash Film), Hissrich explains why they decided to recast Cavill's Geralt and continue after The Witcher season 3 rather than ending the show. The showrunner says, "There's just too many stories left to tell," and with the rest of the cast and crew still enjoying making the show, they decided to keep it going with another actor. Read Hissrich's full explanation below:
We had the choice to have Geralt exit and to end the show. [But] that's not something that we were willing to do. There's just too many stories left to tell. If we replaced Geralt with another Witcher, we would be going fully away from the books, and I don't think that's what anyone wanted either. [...] We're all excited about Liam coming in. He's got enormous shoes to fill, but also has a lot of energy and a lot of excitement for it. It's obviously a brand-new chapter for us. And there's a lot of feelings involved. But at the end of the day, we love what we're doing. So we're gonna keep going.
Why The Witcher Is Right To Continue Without Henry Cavill
Though The Witcher's Geralt recasting has been controversial, to say the least, the showrunner provides a compelling explanation for why it is necessary. The Witcher's main goal is adapting the book series of the same name, which it won't be finished doing after season 3. Thus far, the Netflix show has adapted The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, with season 3 adapting Time of Contempt. There are many more books in Sapkowski's series left to be adapted, including Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, The Lady of the Lake, and Season of Storms.
Replacing Geralt with another Witcher also wasn't an option, considering how central he is to the story. During the age of franchises and existing IPs, it's not at all uncommon for the same character to be played by more than one actor. Geralt is a character who exists independently in Sapkowski's books and is voiced by Doug Cockle in video games. Hemsworth is the latest actor who will play Geralt starting with The Witcher season 4, and if he embodies the role with as much commitment as Cavill, the show shouldn't lose too much steam despite its disgruntled fan base.
Source: Total Film (via Slash Film)