Liam Hemsworth To Replace Henry Cavill In Witcher's Netflix Series

Gonna make it really hard to be interested in season 4. Even if the new actor does a fine job, switching of the main character, whatever the reason, won't feel right.

@Pokemaniacal I agree he was awesome for the role…. I don’t mind Hemsworth I’m just pissed about the casting change. No doubt there is more money to be made with DC but I have very little fate any thing coming out of DC would be even half as good as the Witcher.

And there goes that series. It'll be cancelled soon no doubt. Oh well.

It's sort of a weird thing to change actor for the main character in a TV series like this one. Ok if it was a reboot or a movie. But it seems a bit weird imagining a new Gerald with all the other actors staying the same.

He was so perfect it’s going to be hard to have anyone else in the role.

I'm not too broken up about it. I thought he did a pretty good job all things considered, but Cavill never felt quite right for Geralt for the same reason he's a perfect Superman. The guy looks like he's chiseled out of marble. I always got the impression that Geralt should be good-looking, but also a bit rough around the edges.

Series that change the lead don't often succeed for many seasons afterwards and how well he did in this role will not be matched by Liam Hemsworth in my opinion.

Kind of bummed, but since season 3 hasn't even aired yet, who knows?🤷

"SPARTACUS" and we all know how it all ended after the demise of the main character.

Superman has been called back to action!

Absolutely hate recasts, totally takes me out of the series. I honestly can’t believe Caville can’t do both a few movies and some TV show episodes even if one project has to be delayed for a bit. Actors take on several roles a year, that’s pretty average.

Pass. No thanks. Liam Hemsworth was so wooden in the Hunger Games.

I did not expect a Witcher Remake. This will be good. Take all the time you need.

@Anachronism

While I agree with you I think even-more-handsome guy Hemsworth isn't the right choice either.

I always thought U.S. actor Vigor Mortensen (played also Aragorn in Lord of the Rings) would have been a great choice as Gerald. In LotR he is basicely the spitting image of a "Gerald".

Too bad he is (way) too old now

Extremely disappointing. Pretty much just killed my interest in the show, season 3 can be treated as a final season for me!

@Austrian I'd say his slimmer and sharper facial features are at least a slightly better fit. I imagine the white wig working better on him, too, though I guess that's down to the costume team.

This should never happen outside of Spartacus (since that had good reason). Liam should play a new character. I really dislike recasting; just ruins it for me.

I haven’t actually watched this show yet but it was on the list. Now…. not so much unfortunately.

That’s a pity. Henry Cavil was great as geralt.

Also having just watched the travesty that was black Adam, I would be abandoning the dc universe if I was cavil (although I’m sure a lot of money was offered)

Geralt was a side character in his own show in season 2 and if that's the path the series is going to continue down I was gonna stop watching it but Liams announcement has just sealed the deal!

@DaniPooo @Austrian It's Geralt NOT "Gerald". EPIC FACEPALM!

Such a shame, he was Geralt. But alas, greed wins out and making a 29th or whatever Superman film is more important (aka $$$) than something with heart we haven't seen a billion times over.

I, for one, cannot wait for the superhero trend to end.

Devastated. Given his love of the games I’m kind of shocked he would walk away. I’m not a DC fab, most of the movies have been pretty awful, so to think he’s leaving for those… bums me out 🥲

Damn. Thought this might happen.

I'm still struggling to get through season 2.

They already used CGI to remove Cavills moustache for Justice League. Maybe they can replace his entire face in the previously shot seasons 1-3

@Smigit it would be easier using AI to deepfake Cavil in Season 4 onwards. (As we also have plenty of reference material of Cavil as Gerald) Finally, we can use AI for the greater good for once.

Very strange choice of replacement considering that Liam has mostly played supporting/romantic roles over the years and even though I don't watch the series, this seems like a substantial step down in terms of the lead's star power (and repute as an actor). I have very little doubt that had it not been for nepotism, that he wouldn't be snagging these sorts of roles.

And to echo what @Anachronism said, Hemsworth is too much of a "pretty boy" to fill Geralt's shoes, and there's too big an age difference between Cavill and Hemsworth for the transition to be believable.

They may as well have just ended the show or deliberated until the producers had secured a stronger replacement.

One of the worst, best boring adaptations of a video game / book that I've ever had the misfortune was watching. I don't see a new lead actor changing that

Excellent. Now we just need Ryan Renolds to be replaced with Sacha Baron Cohen as Deadpool and the apocalypse can finally begin!

At least Cavill won't have to do his Batman voice for Geralt anymore. Kind of a shame, the show was just starting to get fun.

changing the lead actor is a bit of an immersion killer. I have come to dislike the witcher tho, after watching season one and two I finally decided to give the game a try. Initially I was very impressed with the game but after a few hours into velen I started to lose interest. One of the more overrated and overhyped games imo. To top it all off I bought the goty edition when it was on sale on nintendo eshop and I now can't even sell it, lol

Cant wait for the new man of steel directed by Zack snyder.
Henry is truly an amazing actor and the best superman ever.

Unless DC plan to use Superman in a movie every year (surely they can’t do that many stand-alone and crossover movies?) I think Netflix would have been much better off just delaying season 4 for a year. This seems like a sure fire way to kill off any audience The Witcher has.

Maybe Cavill was asking for too much money? Netflix are having to make quite serious cut backs at the moment, so maybe this was a good opportunity to replace the star with someone cheaper.

Either way, this is good news for Superman movies and bad news for The Witcher.

Can't wait until the people who blame this on Superhero movies google who Liam Hemsworth is

Netflix has been deviating from the actual stories with each season and not always for the better. Apparently Henry had/has a clause that he would walk if Netflix kept changing the story.
While some jiggle is expected in adapting any book series to either a game (1st) and TV series (2nd) deviating too far away as they have then they lose the gist of the characters and stories.

I really wonder what's the point of going through multiple seasons of something that could've been streamlined as a movie trilogy or multiple movies. The overall quality suffers from a lower budget, the actors won't stay forever (specially if they're expensive actors), the plot becomes a mess if you keep switching directors/writers very often...

Well, its obviously cheaper to throw it on a streaming service and call it a day.

This is fine for me, all the 72 different actors as Batman never bothered me and this wont either except maybe for one episode. I am also an adult and know Geralt is a fictional charachter so it wont ruin my immersion

@Brady1138 The question is what came first, the decision to do more Superman or the decision to quit The Witcher?

The Witcher series take quite a few creative liberties when it comes to the source material, and Henry Cavill is a big fan. I can also understand it if he wasn't feeling it anymore. I also read that he was the most knowledgeable person on the set regarding TW lore. Season 2 was a bit downhill in terms of overall story IMO, so I understand if he decides to jump ship before it crashes all the way.

I find people's reaction to recast a funny thing. Not meaning a new Batman series type of recast. But a recast within an already establish series/universe. Only because I grew up watching soap operas and recasting is part of the norm in that genre. So for me, it doesn't really make a difference as long as the recast is right for the role, and is able to bring their own unique take coupled with capturing the spirit of the character.

The balance is establishing that this is the same character, but acknowledging the new actor is a different actor and bringing their own flair to the role. Playing to their strength, but not (purposely or unintentionally) having the character come off as a different character

No way. William Hartnell made that character. I'm not sticking around to watch that clown Patrick Troughton ruin it. The show will be cancelled after half a season; mark my words.

What’s next? Are they going to replace George Lazenby as James Bond???

Cavill was the only thing that made the Witcher somewhat enjoyable, despite the lackluster adaptation of the story. How Netflix took such a rich world and turned it into the shallow show that it is I will never know. With Cavill gone there is no reason to be watching past season 3.

@NorrinRadd

Oh man, they'd better not! After his epic "one ski" skiing scene in On His Majesty's Secret Service, who could ever replace him!!??

DC money > Netflix money. That would be my guess.

As others are saying, this might kill it. They would be better off saying nothing lol.

Netflix putting more nails in their own coffin again XD

Gave up after the first season, it was just a convoluted mess and the action scenes left a lot to be desired. Acting wasn't up to much either.

And I hated that bloody "Toss a Coin to your Witcher" song.

So yeah, not for me!

I'm not too bothered as yet. Will have to see how Liam does, of course. And we still have season 3 not even out yet with Henry, so no sense getting worked up at this juncture. But growing up, this wasn't completely uncommon. I remember an old Robin Hood show in the 80s that just changed leads for the second season lol. Tbf I think they made it a slightly different character using the same name, but still. And OUAT had a Robin Hood swap. OUAT also was the reason Fandral from the Thor movies changed actors (which no one noticed). And Due South had a sidekick named Ray, and second season just changed to another guy named Ray. My parents were also big on Soaps where actors change all the time in the same role. "The role of Jason will be played by" oh...ok...lol. That would happen live, like just new guy walks in and you're like "uhhhhh sure?" And if you're a fan of HBO shows, they don't seem to care. True Blood, Game of Thrones, etc. Heck House of the Dragon called a time skip and just replaced some core cast mid season lol. And all 80s/90s kids remember when Aunt Viv changed! This is even worse with voice actors, as has been a hot topic of late.

Edit: @UmbreonsPapa I didn't see your post before typing, but completely agree! It's pretty common in some genres, so that might feed into people's comfort level with the idea.

It's a shame. He was a good Geralt. Too bad it didn't work out. Maybe it was schedules or money, who knows.

Liam Hemsworth seems a decent choice but changing the lead actor is a death sentence for a show. Especially since it's the fourth season, which Netflix is notorious for cancelling a show after.

Henry went “up up and away” from this show.

I haven't watched the TV show but I like the book series. Little bit worried about the claims that the show isn't faithful the book series, but I suppose that might be necessary for the pacing etc to work well on a show like this.

This makes 0 sense. Cavill is perfect for Geralt and he stated before that he actively enjoyed playing the role. I almost wonder if the end of Season 3 will end in some sort of time skip/massive narrative shift that might justify this, but I really hate when it happens and it's a major turn-off to a story's narrative pacing. Also announce this now instead of right before Season 4 airs?

@dil_power
James Gunn has taken the reigns of the DC Universe movies, so I have a glimmer of hope. He did great work with Guardians of the Galaxy, and made a Suicide Squad movie that didn't suck

Just checking everyone was angry and saying no thanks.

Same response when the first casting was announced.

People are funny.

@NorrinRadd lmao exactly. So many franchises and shows do this and reading the comments it’s game over. Hahaha

I'll keep my coin thank you.

If this means he's landed the 007 role then crack on. Will still be jarring though, as he made an awesome Geralt

I liked the first season but for me the second was a total mess and was not going to follow the third season so this change of actor doesn’t bother me since I won’t watch it.

So we getting the downgraded Hemsworth brother…

@TowaHerschel7
well, sorry. I'm used to Gerald as it's a common name here.
My apologies if that's an "EPIC FACEPALM!" for you.
seriously, how old are you? like 5?

Well there goes the series, the thing about Carvil is that he knows the role as he's played all the games.
Can't wait for the third series, but not holding out for the fourth now.

initially i wasn't too keen on the idea of 'cavill geralt' as i was too hung up on 'cockle geralt'. now i think they're both great.
here's hoping that 'hannah montana's ex-husband' geralt will also be good, you never know.

@Austrian
OMG! The I'm going to question your age on the internet insult!!!!!
Watch out @TowaHerschel7 the "Australian" 😉 is trying to "burn" you on his barbie like you're some kind of shrimp!

I'm guessing Cavill didn't know the show would last 4 seasons.

Considering how much it threw me out of the story when Ciri's eyebrows changed colour between the final scene of season 1 and the first of season 2 (a time-span of around 5 minutes within the show), I don't think I'll be able to adjust to a new Geralt...

It's really sad, as (unlike many here) I haven't read the books or played the games yet, so I've actually really enjoyed both seasons of the show.

@Old_Man_Nintendo @dil_power
Peacemaker was also a great show, so it will be fun to see what Gunn does going foward.

@Eagly - Not entirely about Superman. Cavill is a huge fan of the Witcher books and even opted to stay for a 7 season series if they continued to stay true to the books. Even one of the main writers for Season 2 was saying many of the staff actually had a disdain for the materials and were just on the project because they wanted the notoriety and wanted to change many things.

Cavill tapped out of his fight. Which tells me Season 4 is going to be more different than just the lead.

Apart from the fact Henry is established as Geralt now and he nails it, let's not forget the most important thing - he genuinely loves The Witcher and was a big fan of the games and books before he even got the role. That enthusiasm for the world of the Witcher translates into his performance.

They should have retired Geralt for now, and focused on a different Witcher for Season 4. Duh!

Not even the good Hemsworth but the budget Hemsworth.

@Octane Yeah I've been hearing that too and it makes sense. I get the impression Netflix sees Witcher more as a platform for "content" rather than story, I remember hearing they got the Witcher property just to have "their own Game of Thrones" rather than passionate creators coming to them with a story pitch. Watched the first season and it was fine, if confusing and a bit aimless. Dropped off halfway through Season 2 and started reading the books and found them way more engaging (not to mention the games, but that's a given).