Henry Cavill’s departure from The Witcher has caused plenty of anger among fans of the actor and the Netflix series, however, showrunner Lauren Hissrich has assured everyone that Cavill will be getting a “heroic sendoff” from the fantasy show. Liam Hemsworth will be taking over the role from the fourth season, meaning a completely new take on the character going forward. First though, season 3 of The Witcher is coming to Netflix sometime in 2023 and speaking about it to Entertainment Weekly, Hissrich said:
“Henry has given so much to the show and so we want to honor that appropriately. What is so interesting is that season 3, to me, is the closest thing that we've done as a one-to-one adaptation of the books. Obviously, we can't do every page, but Time of Contempt gave us so many big action events, plot points, defining character moments, huge reveals of a big bad. There's so much to do that we were able to stick really, really closely with the books. 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. Geralt has a new mission in mind when we come back to him in season 4. He's a slightly different Geralt than we expected. Now, by the way, that's an understatement.”
Why Did Henry Cavill Leave The Witcher After Three Seasons?
While some have said Cavill reportedly left the show as he was not happy with the changes being made to the source material, Hissrich recently hinted that there is more to be revealed about Cavill’s departure than has been said so far. In a previous interview HIssrich said:
"I do have a lot to say and I think that there's a lot of, you know... we'll obviously never get into exactly why Henry left, all of the reasons, but I can say it's been a mutually respectful relationship... So please, please, please come back in six months when we can talk."
Why there would seem to be some kind of six month embargo on Hissrich being able to speak freely about Cavill’s exit from the popular series is unclear, but there is certainly a story that someone wants to tell at some point in the future. While Cavill certainly showed no animosity to incoming Geralt, Liam Hemsworth, the reports of his disagreements with the production team over the direction of the show have continued to rumble on, and until the facts are laid out, there will no doubt continue to be plenty of speculation on social media.
The Witcher is one of Netflix’s biggest franchises, and the idea of changing a lead actor after three seasons is something that seemed unthinkable before it happened. Whether the change is one that the show will be able to quickly overcome is yet to be seen, but for now fans are just looking forward to seeing Cavill as Geralt one more time in The Witcher season 3.