All the questions we have about Liam Hemsworth as Geralt, 1 year before his debut on The Witcher

It’s likely that the fourth season of Netflix’s hit The Witcher is going to drop next fall, and right now we have a lot of questions. Most of them concern Henry Cavill’s replacement, Liam Hemsworth, who will be taking over as Geralt of Rivia after Cavill decided to step away from the role. To celebrate — or perhaps, depending on how you view it, mourn — this changing of the guard, let’s have a look at some of the biggest question marks surrounding Hemsworth’s upcoming interpretation of the most famous monster hunter on the Continent, and how it might affect the show we’ve grown to know and love.

How will Hemsworth mesh with his costars? 

Cavill’s charisma with his costars was something special. While he plays well alongside Frea Allan as Cirilla and Joey Batey as Jaskier, Cavill’s Geralt shines the brightest alongside Anya Chalotra’s Yennefer of Vengerberg, a powerful sorceress and Geralt's love interest. The two have a certain romantic friction and complicated spark that really brings the relationship between their protagonists to life. While the Cavill-shaped hole in future episodes of The Witcher is something many fans will have trouble accepting, perhaps a more devastating side-effect of the beloved actor leaving his tailored role is how it will affect his fellow characters. While we can hope for a seamless transition, it’s something to look out for as Hemsworth steps into Geralt’s well-traveled boots for the first time.

What is Hemsworth’s interpretation of Geralt’s vibe?

Cavill’s Geralt will forever be Cavill’s Geralt, just like CD Projekt Red’s video game version of Geralt will always be distinct from author Andrzej Sapkowski’s original rendition of the character in The Witcher book series. Cavill’s Geralt is wry, with surprisingly endearing comic timing peppered into The Witcher’s suspenseful vastness. He portrays an earnest longing to be Ciri’s guardian while imbuing each moment of tenderness between the core found family of Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer with an earnestness that many fans believe to be unmatched.

It will be interesting to see what unique elements Hemsworth adds to his interpretation of Geralt. Will this new Geralt be suffused with a unique charm all his own? Or perhaps a renewed intensity? Or will he only be a shell of Cavill's Geralt? Only seasons 4 and 5, which are being filmed back and back and which will close out the series, will tell.

Will the show be more or less steamy?

A major part of Cavill’s chemistry with Chalotra plays out in the scenes of intimacy between Geralt and Yennefer. The couple’s tortured relationship is a big part of every version of The Witcher story, and is thus extremely important for the show to nail.

It is yet to be seen if Hemsworth’s presence will add or detract from The Witcher’s steaminess. If Hemsworth can match or exceed Caill's chemistry with Chalotra, then the added layers to Geralt and Yennefer’s relationship may well increase the overall appeal of the show for many longtime fans. However, if the romance scenes fall flat with this new Geralt, the entire balance of the story could be thrown off. Sapkowski has masterfully interwoven romance into his original tale to control its tension, heightening it and subduing it at various points throughout the narrative to great effect. But if Hemsworth’s Geralt can’t cut it when it comes to the character’s complex love life, these interludes might turn from a narrative advantage into a failing in the blink of an eye.

How will Hemsworth interpret Geralt’s accent? 

When developing his character for the show, the British Cavill chose to augment his accent to hew closer to the Geralt from The Witcher video games. At first, he tried delivering Geralt’s lines with a voice more similar to how he speaks normally. However he decided that this didn’t quite fit. Taking a cue from Doug Cockle, the American voice actor who portrays Geralt in The Witcher games, Cavill decided to go with a gruffer, more geographically-agnostic accent that suggests a Geralt who's a true loner who has wandered the Continent from one end to the other as he ekes out a meager living hunting the monsters that dwell on its fringes.

How will the Australian Hemsworth interpret Geralt’s accent? He will be faced with the choice of whether to mimic Cavill’s version of the character or go for something purely his own. And this raises a broader and perhaps more interesting question: to what degree will The Witcher’s showrunners give Hemsworth the chance to make the character his own? Giving Hemsworth more leeway could potentially be risky if the show wants to replicate the success it's found with Cavill playing Geralt over the first three seasons. However, allowing Hemsworth to develop his own sense of who the character is could pay off with a refreshing take that helps the show pivot elegantly in a new direction. While Geralt’s accent is but one of a number of choices that will go into Hemsworth’s interpretation, it could be an early and indicative factor to keep an eye on as we get closer to season 4.

To what degree has Hemsworth been exposed to The Witcher lore?

Cavill is a huge fan of The Witcher video games. He also has read Sapkowski’s novels and is just generally a nerd who has steeped himself in The Witcher’s world and the lore that underpins its power structures. It has been reported that before being cast for the role of Geralt, Hemsworth hadn’t read any of the novels, but he was a big fan of the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

While Hemsworth has reportedly gotten enough of an initial education in The Witcher games through his Xbox — and committed to reading the books and watching previous seasons of the show prior to filming — there’s still a question mark over how invested he is in the lore of this world. While normally it might not matter how much an actor knows about the IP they’re bringing to life, Cavill’s knowledge and general nerdiness around The Witcher and its vast lore is a large part of what made him such a beloved Geralt. It is yet to be seen if Hemsworth will be able to fill a similar role, or if his relative lack of love for the series before being cast will come back to haunt him.

Will Hemsworth's work in The Hunger Games transfer over to The Witcher?

Before being cast as Geralt, Hemsworth was best-known for playing Gale in the Jennifer Lawrence-led screen adaptation of The Hunger Games. Many fans believe Hemsworth played Gale well due in large part to his apparent lack of onscreen charisma. After all, author Suzanne Collins didn’t write Gale to be all that likable in the first place. That said, if Hemsworth is going to attempt to play Geralt similarly to how Cavill interpreted the character, he’s going to have to exude a certain quiet charisma. It’s in question if Hemsworth will be able to do such a thing, much less if he’ll choose to even try in the first place. Certainly, if he chooses to channel any of the qualities he brought to playing Gale, we’ll be faced with a greatly changed Geralt come next autumn.

What does Cavill’s replacement mean for the future of streaming?

This is a broader question, but one that deserves consideration. Although Cavill walking away was the actor’s personal decision, does it set the stage for other actors to do something similar down the line? Will we see a whole new cast of Targaryens in House of Dragon at a moment’s notice? Will Willem Dafoe have to step in and replace Charlie Vickers as Sauron on The Rings of Power? What about Bella Ramsey on The Last of Us? Will she disappear in season 3 only to be replaced by a slightly different Ellie?

Shifting Geralt’s actor in the middle of the adaptation sets a potentially unsettling precedent for other major shows of the day. Cavill must have his own reasons for leaving, but it’s likely that many of them arose in response to the show’s proposed direction. They should have done more to keep him, if for no other reason than to maintain continuity in a beloved franchise. Here’s hoping that none of the other shows that were mentioned follow The Witcher’s example and make sure to hang on to their stars.

All this said, we’re optimistic that Hemsworth will step in and make Geralt his own. Just because The Witcher will be different without Henry Cavill doesn’t mean that it will be worse. That is cause for excitement in itself, and that’s why we’re awaiting season 4 with anticipation and curiosity in equal measure.

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