why the serial image of Geralt was not initially accepted, and then fell in love

The last episodes of the third season of The Witcher will be released on June 27. However, we will see Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia for the last time. His place will be taken by Liam Hemsworth, and this news infuriated the fans of the series. We analyze the history of the role and track the reaction of the audience in this material.

It became known in the fall of 2022 that the actor is leaving the project. On October 29, Netflix, and then Henry Cavill himself, announced a change in the cast – the role of Geralt moves from Henry to another actor – Liam Hemsworth, who is best known for The Hunger Games.

Social networks were filled with angry comments in which fans promised to stop watching the series in the third season – Cavill’s departure was for many the last straw against many other controversial points. However, the series had problems with many aspects even before its release.

The actor’s desire to play Geralt of Rivia was known long before the release of the series. Almost a year before The Witcher’s first posters were shown, Cavill spoke about this in an interview.

The actor then admitted that he really likes Andrzej Sapkowski’s (Andrzej Sapkowski) universe and “now The Witcher 3 is going ahead for the second time.” A month later, the actor shared the news that the role was his.

The internet reacted ambiguously to this. Some viewers were delighted with the actor’s appearance and responded positively to the cast. Others feared, first of all, the violation of the canon and, in general, not in vain.

In the books, Geralt is almost a hundred years old. He was given longevity by witcher mutations and a slow metabolism. And although the drugs slowed aging, he looks similar: gray hair, vertical pupils, “a tortured, emaciated and wrinkled face.”

In the series we got a handsome man, a star of the first order, who was soon called “Geralt of Bodybuilding.” With the arrival of the first posters and trailers, it became clear to the community that the serial Geralt is closer to the developers’ version of The Witcher 3 than to the book prototype. By the way, we have tried to find a more suitable cast in a separate article.

But even then the issue of choosing a central character began to recede into the background. Black elves, problems with character costumes and performers of other roles, plot holes – all this did not add points to Netflix. Against the background of all the things the company did with Andrzej Sapkowski’s universe, Cavill’s behavior compares favorably, and gradually fans began to love the pumped-up version of Geralt. And the first season was pretty good too.

The actor really turned out to be a fan of the universe: not in words, but in deeds. During the interview, he willingly answered questions about his “geeky” hobbies, posted a video showing the editing from his PC, argued with the series’ directors and staff, pushed for canonicity, and bombarded them with ideas to improve the series and make it right from a fan’s point of view.

In turn, the showrunner of the series Lauren Hissrich (Lauren Hissrich) insisted that “The Witcher” for her is the story of strong women, and only then the witcher. That is why the second season, a review of which can be found here, turned out so poorly in quality – instead of following the canon, the authors “created” the plot to suit their goals.

In the third season, Henry Cavill is almost the only reason to watch the series. On Metacritic, the user rating froze around 2.2 points, with audiences praising only Geralt and his new costume.

On October 29, Henry published a message announcing that he would no longer be playing Geralt in The Witcher, thanking the film crew and wishing Liam Hemsworth the best of luck in the new role.

There are many rumors on the Internet about why the actor left the project, and “problems with superiors” have long been known. From various sources, no, no, yes, rumors surfaced that the actor is so committed to the universe that he is not afraid to get into conflict with the showrunner and other administrative staff.

However, there is another point of view. The fact is that the contract with Cavill was concluded for more than three seasons, and at the time of signing the actor had problems with earnings and good roles. Now Cavill has several big projects on the line at once: the role of Superman in the DC Universe (however, after a while the situation changed), the main role in the Highlander reboot and one of the main roles in Guy Ritchie’s film The Ministry of Ungentleman’s War. So it’s quite possible that the actor’s work influenced his decision not to renew his contract with the studio.

At the same time, the reaction of the fans is strikingly different from the “meeting” of the actor. Under the trailer of the last episodes of the third season you will find a lot of sad farewell comments. Fans write how much they will miss and how the actor will forever remain “their Geralt of Rivia”.

The authors of the series thought about how to complete the project in the third season, but still decided to change the main character and move on.

Producers – Tomek Baginski and Steve Gaub – promise to explain the appearance changes in the series, as well as accurately justify them in terms of lore. Will they succeed – we’ll find out in the fourth season.

Meanwhile, the show’s team never stops praising the “new Witcher” and talking about how great Liam looks as Geralt, never forgetting questionable decisions. For example, Netflix’s marketing department decided to advertise the third season in a very controversial way – displaying the words “Yes, he still plays Geralt in the third season of The Witcher” on the walls of buildings.

An unequivocal response to the new artist Geralt has not yet been formed. Fans timidly imagine Hemsforth as a witcher, creating art and using fake imagery with Cavill – examples can be seen here and here. Henry himself received much more response – in the form of sympathy and congratulations, as well as Netflix – in the form of another wave of hate.

We’ll see how fans react to Liam when footage from the fourth season, about which not much is known, hits the internet. According to some publications, the series will show Regis – the supreme vampire, known to many by the addition of “Blood and Wine” (Blood and Wine) in The Witcher 3.

How did you react to the change in the role of Geralt? And do you like the direction the series is going in? Write in the comments.