Why did Henry Cavill quit ‘The Witcher’?

The Witcher is back for season four, but without lead star Henry Cavill – but why did the Superman star leave the show? Find out below.

The first three seasons of the Netflix fantasy series saw Cavill play Gerald of Rivia, a magically enhanced monster hunter known as a “witcher”, but in 2022, it was revealed that the actor would not be returning for the new episodes.

In announcing his departure, he confirmed that Liam Hemsworth would be stepping into the role in his place. Hemsworth has said his addition to the show “came out of nowhere”, saying in one interview that he was “as surprised as anyone” to be filling the lead role for season four.

Hemsworth also shed new light on what fans can expect from the new season: “The beginning of season four is pretty close after the battle with Vilgeforz. He’s not in a good place at that point, physically. He’s severely injured. Mentally, he’s dealing with things that he’s not used to, which is self-doubt and this frustration. Now all of a sudden, you’re seeing the very human side to this person, but what you’re also seeing is the determination to fix it.”

All eight episodes of The Witcher season four arrive on Netflix on Thursday (October 30), while season five – which was filmed back-to-back – will bring the series to an end. Seasons four and five will adapt the remaining three books by Andrzej Sapkowski, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow and Lady of the Lake, promising to offer an “epic and satisfying conclusion” to the hit fantasy drama.

Reviewing Cavill’s final episodes in season three, NME‘s Alex Flood wrote: “There is definitely something compelling about The Witcher, something that has kept us hooked through 21 hours of storytelling. We can’t quite put our finger on what, but if you pushed us, we’d probably say (sorry, Netflix) that it has something to do with Cavill. These final episodes zip by in a whirl of flashing swords and witty retorts when Geralt’s on screen, but get bogged down when he’s off it.”

Why did Henry Cavill quit The Witcher?

At the time that he announced his departure, he did not specifically state why he had decided to leave, although it was widely speculated that creative differences had caused him to step away.

Cavill is a noted fan of the books and games and had dropped hints that he was not happy with the direction of his character and the overall series – in 2021, for example, a producer revealed that he had sent several notes about Geralt’s dialogue for the second season.

“A lot of the notes he was sending to me were about Geralt’s dialogue — could he, first of all, say more,” Lauren Hissrich told The Hollywood Reporter. “Everybody came out of season one laughing and loving Geralt’s fuming. But Henry was saying that when you read the books you spend a lot of time in Geralt’s head. So how can we put that on the page?”

In an interview with Philstar, Cavill elaborated on the situation, saying: “It’s important for me to have the character be three-dimensional. And it’s tricky to do, as I was saying earlier, because there’s a certain vision and there’s a certain set storyline and plot. And so, it was about me trying to find Geralt’s place within that. All of my asks and requests were along the lines of just being faithful to the source material.”

In Cavill’s departure statement the following year, he said: “My journey as Geralt Of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for season four.

“In my stead, the fantastic Mr Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men.”