Henry Cavill is out and Liam Hemsworth is in as Geralt of Rivia, the white-haired monster slayer on Netflix’s The Witcher. On the surface, making the transition from Cavill to Hemsworth should be fairly seamless. They’re both tall, broad, and burly. They’re both decorated action stars. Deep-fake images of Hemsworth’s face on Cavill’s body are already making us wonder if Hemsworth has actually been there the entire time…
But Geralt of Rivia is not just a tall, broad, and burly action star. He is, as Cavill stated in his farewell-to-Geralt Instagram post, a “fascinating and nuanced” character. While we don’t expect Hemsworth’s Geralt to be a carbon copy of Cavill’s, there are a few traits essential to the witcher’s character that we hope Hemsworth will work into his own portrayal of the White Wolf:
1. Brooding
For all his entanglement in geo-political conflicts across The Continent, Geralt mostly just wants to be left alone. The opening of season 3 is essentially a six-minute march featuring a cloaked Cavill doing one of two things: staring out across a barren landscape or glaring at Yennefer. That’s right, in the year 2023, in the midst of a platinum age of television, The Witcher dedicated six straight minutes to Henry Cavill’s brooding. And they might be the best six minutes of the episode.
For all The Witcher’s political intrigue, flashy duels, and epic magic, Cavill managed to make Geralt’s silent self-doubt and begrudging sighs the most compelling elements of the show. Maybe it’s because it’s just so, so easy to look at Henry Cavill’s face. If that’s the case, then Hemsworth should have no difficulty capturing the same sullen brood. But I think it’s more than that.
I think Cavill felt the inner strife that Geralt did, that he felt Geralt’s deep reluctance to play a prominent role in an increasingly high-stakes battle. Whether it’s through long hours practicing in front of a mirror or twilights spent alone on a distant hillside, I hope Hemsworth finds a way to portray Geralt’s struggle with his internal monsters as convincingly as he can the struggle against the outer ones.
2. Respect for the Blade
It’s hard to talk about Geralt’s fight scenes without glorifying violence. The man holds his sword like an Olympic ping-pong player for goodness’ sake. The reverse grip Cavill uses is something you might expect him to use for a dagger or a shoto blade, not a European longsword.
While there may be some debate about the historical accuracy or dueling effectiveness of the grip, it captures an essential truth about witchers: their swords are extensions of their bodies. I’ve no doubt Hemsworth will learn how to wield a blade and skillfully execute Geralt’s fight choreography, but will he find a way to elevate his dueling to the true level of a witcher? Will he wield his swords with the casual, lethal fluidity that Cavill does?
3. Encyclopedic Knowledge
Witchers aren’t just stronger than you. They aren’t just faster than you. They can’t just constrict their eyes as they look into midday sunlight better than you.
They also know more than you.
One of the best examples of Geralt putting a witcher’s knowledge and keen mind to use is in Season 1, Episode 3: “Betrayer Moon.” The episode climaxes with Geralt’s overnight battle with a striga, a werewolf-like monster that looks like it would be insulted by being compared to a werewolf. The battle, however, isn’t the best part of the episode.
The best parts of “Betrayer Moon” are the scenes in which Geralt interrogates King Foltest and Lord Ostrit about the nature of the monster. A witcher is always alert, always aware. Hemsworth might wear the same contacts Cavill wore, but will he give us a Geralt who is always searching, probing, and discerning?
4. Geralt’s Batman Voice
I know, I’m mixing universes. And I know, Henry Cavill plays Superman, not Batman. But “Batman voice” is the best way to describe the timbre Cavill assumes to portray Geralt. The weathered, growly tone Cavill affects adds to the impression that the witcher is always a threat. There’s something of distant thunder in his voice. Even when Geralt seems relaxed or far away from the action, his tone suggests that his last battle wasn’t that long ago and that his next one will happen soon.
Hemsworth’s Australian accent can melt butter, but how will he tune his voice to a quality befitting a witcher who bears the burden of caring too much?
5. Getting Down and Dirty
We’ve talked about the elegance and ease with which Cavill wields the witcher’s blades, but portraying Geralt of Rivia isn’t just about flashy fight scenes with slick choreography. In the series’s opening scene, Geralt emerges from the depth of a swamp, clutching the limbs of a Kikimora, an enormous, spidery monster that tries to stab him in the face while also trying to drown him. Cavill spends most of the scene ducking blows underwater while desperately reaching for his silver sword. It is not an elegant victory.
Henry Cavill has reportedly gone out of his way to roll around in dirt and mud to “try and get as much of the world on [Geralt]” as possible. Costumers and makeup artists will adorn Hemsworth with the same tunic and armor Cavill wore. They’ll give him the same white wig and salty stubble. I’m waiting to see what Hemsworth is willing to play a Geralt willing to get down and dirty to earn his next reward or fight for the people he loves.
6. (BONUS) With a book or controller in hand
Henry Cavill has shared that his previous love for The Witcher franchise — which began with The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski and expanded with the video games from CD Projekt Red — informed his portrayal of Geralt. There’s something incredibly endearing about that on a human level. We love it when actors love their characters. Cavill’s love for Geralt and the world of The Witcher made the news of his exit that much more surprising: Why would someone so personally invested in this character choose to stop portraying him?
There is some speculation that Cavill chose to leave because the character in the Netflix series was departing too much from the character in the books and games Cavill loved. Perhaps as a response to these concerns, the creators of the show have teased a “very lore accurate” explanation for the change in Geralt’s look as they introduce Hemsworth in the role.
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. If deviance from the source material is what lost them their lead, maybe Cavill’s departure will motivate The Witcher’s showrunners to recommit to elements of Andrzej Sapkowski’s lore that fans want to see.
Then again, maybe not. Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing a candid shot circulating social media of Liam Hemsworth with a copy of The Last Wish or The Witcher 3 in his hands.
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