Despite The Witcher being renewed for season 4, original leading man Henry Cavill has stepped away from the series. In the upcoming fourth season, the central role of Geralt of Rivia will be played by Liam Hemsworth instead.
Cavill never explained why he was leaving the popular Netflix series, although there was plenty of fan speculation. Let’s take a look at the likely reasons Cavill decided to walk away from this fantastical role.
1. There were creative differences on the set
The Witcher TV show is based on a series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski, later followed up on in a series of video games from CD Projekt Red. The show doesn't follow either of these sources particularly closely, which has angered some fans. Former Witcher producer and writer Beau DeMayo shared that some of the writers “actively disliked” the books and games, and that showrunner Lauren D. Hissrich tried to avoid hiring writers who were purists about the source material.
Cavill, on the other hand, was a big fan of the books and games, and was known to have issues with the tone of the Netflix show from time to time. It's possible that instead of fighting with the producers of the seires, Cavill just decided to walk away.
2. Henry Cavill may have had scheduling conflicts
Cavill is certainly a popular man in the world of TV and movies. He had a few projects on the go at the same time as The Witcher, including playing Superman in Zack Snyder’s DC universe, although his version of the character has since been phased out. Since then, he's signed up for a reboot of the Highlander franchise and is producing a Warhammer TV show. It’s possible that there were some scheduling conflicts and the actor had to choose between the projects.
3. He couldn’t juggle as many projects at once
While schedule issues are one problem, another could have just been Cavill’s mental state. There is a chance that having a lot of big projects on the go at once took its toll on Cavill mentally and physically. Cavill may have realized that he had to let one of them go. At the time, that was The Witcher. Mental health is a common reason why actors step away from projects, but not all actors want to talk about it.
4. He was ready for a new challenge elsewhere
Not all actors like to stick around with the same show for too long. This is why some prefer to do movies, as they’re not stuck in that one role for months or years on end. It’s possible that’s what happened here.
Cavill has since been cast in Amazon’s Warhammer adaptation. He also landed the lead role in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, showing that he is a sought-after actor. He's appeared alongside Millie Bobby Brown in the Enola Holmes movies. All of the roles he’s playing are vastly different from Geralt, showing that he likes variety!
5. His contract came to an end
Digital Spy reminds us that Cavill’s contract for The Witcher was a short-term one. It sounds like it could have been for three seasons. It’s possible that Cavill’s contract simply came to an end and that they weren't able to negotiate a new one.
Maybe Netflix didn’t want to give Cavill what he wanted to continue the contract. Maybe Cavill decided that it was time to move on. It’s even possible that he was never planning on re-upping his contract from the beginning, even if the show was a success, and he chose to stick to that plan. That doesn’t seem right as Cavill once said that he would play Geralt for "as long as we can keep telling great stories which honour Sapkowski's work," so it seems like something happened behind the scenes.
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