Why The Witcher Recast Henry Cavill's Geralt Of Rivia Instead Of Ending The Show

It's tough to think of the Netflix fantasy series "The Witcher," based on the novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, without Henry Cavill at its center as Geralt of Rivia. He brought passion to the project as a massive fan of the novels and video games that already exist in the franchise, and he made Geralt a truly three-dimensional character with pathos. Even skeptical fans who thought the casting was a bit odd (I was holding out for Mads Mikkelsen) found themselves won over by Cavill's performance, impressed at the range he showed after gaining fame as Superman. Unfortunately, "The Witcher" will be going on without Cavill after the third season, with actor Liam Hemsworth stepping into his leather boots and silver wig for the show's fourth season. 

There has been quite a bit of discussion around why Cavill decided to leave, ranging from potential creative conflicts with the "Witcher" team to hopes of donning the cape and tights to play Superman again, but not much has been said about why the folks behind the franchise have decided to continue on without him. In the latest issue of Total Film, showrunner Lauren Hissrich shared the reasoning behind the recast and explained why they decided to keep going. 

The third season and final outing of Cavill's version of "The Witcher" will premiere on Netflix on June 29, 2023.

In the interview with Total Film, Hissrich said that it was "time for [Cavill] in his life to move on," and that the cast and crew all mourned his leaving in their own way, but in the end, they had to decide on what to do with the narrative after his departure. They could end the series, of course, but Hissrich felt that they had to take another option:

"I mean, 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."

How exactly they'll handle Cavill's departure and Hemsworth's arrival has yet to be seen, but there are some ways they could easily work around the change in performer in-world, given the show's abundant use of magic. It's a real bummer that Cavill won't be around to be the world's hottest grumpy dad anymore, but it will be interesting to see how Hemsworth does in the role. Sometimes these kinds of switches can work, and Hemsworth deserves the benefit of the doubt, at the very least. 

Hissrich has said that Cavill will get a "heroic sendoff," so it's entirely possible that we'll see some kind of transition between the two performers onscreen and it won't just be ignored or brushed away. When "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" had to replace Santino Fontana, who played Greg, because he got a role on Broadway, they ended up bringing in Skylar Astin, including small nods to the fact that he was a different man while keeping it within the reality of the show. They used the story itself to make the casting decision make sense, and they could do something similar with "The Witcher." Maybe Geralt is permanently changed after his big showdown and that shifted his appearance and voice, or maybe he actually gets switched into a different body. Weirder things have happened in "The Witcher"! 

They could also just never bring it up, changing from Cavill to Hemsworth without mentioning it (aside from maybe one of Jaskier's japes), hoping the audience just rolls with it. Whatever they decide to do, I'm just glad that we're going to get more from the world of "The Witcher" and that Cavill's departure doesn't mean the end for Yennefer, Ciri, Jaskier, and the rest of the incredible cast of characters.