The Witcher: Blood Origin shows how challenging The Witcher Henry Cavill exit will be for the universe. The Witcher’s first live-action spinoff, Blood Origin works as a prequel but also ties in with both events of The Witcher season 2 and the upcoming season 3. As a four-episode event series set 1,200 years before the events of The Witcher, Blood Origin would have the difficult mission of expanding The Witcher’s universe without characters like Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri.
Though Jaskier returns in The Witcher: Blood Origin’s first episode, little else directly connects the spinoff series to the hit Netflix show. Blood Origin is not based on any specific The Witcher novel or short story and instead tells an original story set in a pre-Conjunction of the Spheres continent. As such, Blood Origin can't rely on known elements from Netflix’s The Witcher.
How Blood Origin Showcases The Danger Of Henry Cavill's Exit
Netflix’s The Witcher is built around its titular character, the silver-haired Geralt of Rivia played by Henry Cavill. While Cavill was not a recurring Geralt fancast beforehand, the DCEU Superman actor brings something unique to the character while also living up to Geralt’s characterization in the Witcher books and games. Essentially, The Witcher Henry Cavill’s Geralt has become the face of The Witcher. Blood Origin’s overall negative reception, 35% on Rotten Tomatoes, suggests that the Witcher TV universe isn’t ready to move on from Cavill. The Witcher’s lore may be deep, but expanding The Witcher beyond Geralt might be impossible.
On The Witcher Henry Cavill will not be written out. Liam Hemsworth will replace Henry Cavill as The Witcher's Geralt for season 4, meaning the show can continue with Geralt as the main character. However, that transition will not be easy, as Blood Origin indicates. The Witcher is arguably one of Netflix’s most successful releases in recent years. It has franchise potential. That being said, Netflix’s The Witcher still hasn’t solidified itself as that massive franchise, especially after the divisive season 2. A universally praised part of the show, Henry Cavill’s Geralt has been essential to The Witcher’s success.
Blood Origin Shows That Witcher Needs Its Original Formula
The Witcher: Blood Origin may have a lot of deep-cut connections to The Witcher and Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels lore. However, when it comes to casual audiences, Blood Origin's post-credits scene, and Jaskier are the only concrete elements linking the spinoff to the original show. Blood Origin tries to expand on The Witcher’s lore, much of what has been teased or mentioned in the books, resulting in a plot that feels too convoluted and unfocused even for those familiar with The Witcher’s universe. As such, Blood Origin proves that The Witcher season 1’s formula is the original show’s biggest strength.
Blood Origin, just like The Witcher season 2, is more focused on world-building and establishing potential new stories than its main characters. While The Witcher season 2 was expected to be less episodic than season 1, given how it started adapting Sapkowski's Witcher books, the show takes a significant turn, losing much of what made season 1 so special. Finding that balance is even more difficult for Blood Origin, which has to introduce seven main characters in a story with only four episodes. The Witcher has to go back to basics, as The Witcher season 2 and The Witcher: Blood Origin underline.
Henry Cavill's Final Witcher Scene Has Been Revealed
When it comes to The Witcher Henry Cavill situation, it seems many of the questions might be answered, and it could even play into the novels. While one of the reasons Cavill was leaving was reportedly because the Netflix show moving too far away from the source material. With that said, the final The Witcher Henry Cavill scene was revealed, and it not only shows why a change of actors might work out but also tie into the end of The Tower of the Swallow, the fourth novel in The Witcher series.
In this final The Witcher Henry Cavill scene, Geralt of Rivia gives up his role as a witcher. The final scene Cavill appears in will see someone yell out, "Witcher," to which Geralt responds, "no, no more." "Geralt’s big turn is about giving up neutrality and doing anything that he has to do to get to Ciri. And to me, it’s the most heroic sendoff that we could have, even though it wasn’t written to be that," showrunner Lauren Hissrich told EW. When The Witcher returns for season 4, Geralt will be very different than viewers will remember.