Henry Cavill Backlash Forces A Response From His Former Boss
The showrunner of Netflix’s The Witcher series and former boss of Superman actor Henry Cavill finally broke her silence regarding Cavill’s exit from the show. In an exclusive interview with Tech Radar, showrunner Lauren Hissrich stated “It’s a big deal for us, too… What I will say is please come back for The Witcher season three so that we can continue to do this.” Hissrich acknowledged that Cavill’s departure from the show constitutes huge news, while trying to keep her interview focused on the upcoming Witcher spinoff series, Blood Origin.
This response comes after over a month of radio silence from the executives behind the scenes of the popular fantasy show, which serves as a live action adaptation of the popular Witcher video game series. Back in November it was announced that Henry Cavill would be leaving the show after the third season and the titular protagonist Geralt of Rivia would be recast, with one of the lesser Hemsworth’s taking on the mantle. This news shocked audiences as Cavill is a self professed super fan of the source material and has cited the role as a dream job in the past.
Fans were so distraught to lose their man of steel behind the wheel, that a change.org petition was started in order to get Henry Cavill back in the role, amassing over 275,000 signatures. This is likely what prompted Hissrich to finally respond, though she provided very little new information regarding Cavill’s seemingly tumultuous exit. Hissrich also stated that she understood the vitriol aimed toward the people running The Witcher, but still urged fans to return for Cavill’s third and final season, which is set to premiere some time in 2023.
While nobody knows the exact details surrounding Henry Cavill’s departure, many fans speculated that it may be due to growing tension behind the scenes with the show’s writing staff. Cavill, as an avid fan of the original Andrzej Sapkowski authored Witcher book series, has stated in the past that he’d prefer the adaptation to stay faithful to the original stories, whereas fans were quick to point out the many deviations present throughout the show’s second season.
So fans of The Witcher, and Henry Cavill’s performance as Geralt, are left with an interesting conundrum. Do they continue watching the show to see what Cavill and Hissrich have in store for the third season, knowing Geralt is doomed to return in the following outing with all the gravitas of a non-Thor Hemsworth brother? Or do they abandon the show now, stripping Cavill of his last hurrah, and potentially dooming the future of the entire Witcher cinematic universe?
For now, it seems that Lauren Hissrich’s comments may have actually raised more questions than answers. Will Liam Hemsworth have the acting chops to breathe new life into Geralt? Will the show continue to function without Henry Cavill’s bolstering performance?
