Last weekend, "The Witcher" fans got a bitter pill to swallow. Actor Henry Cavill (39) made it public via his official Instagram account that he will no longer be returning as the title character Geralt of Rivia in the fourth season of the fantasy series. Instead, colleague Liam Hemsworth (32) will play the leading role in the new episodes. Instead of being happy about the well-known replacement, many supporters of the Netflix production are primarily shocked at the farewell and the new cast.
The announcement even comes ahead of the airing of season three, which also stars Cavill as Geralt. After that at the latest, Netflix could just as well end the series as continue with a new star, many fans agree. Also because the self-confessed "Witcher" fan Cavill can't be beat when it comes to sacrifice for the series: "Henry Cavill has done his own stunts. He's been training swordsmanship for months. 'The Witcher' won't be the same without him."
In order to visualize their frustration with this departure, many users have apparently been inspired by the "Breaking Bad" universe. For example, a user posted a promotional clip of the sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk, 60) from "Better Call Saul" in which he asked his audience: "Is there a God? How can he allow this? Who has did this to me? Who can I sue?"
Commenting on a famous clip in which Bryan Cranston (66) as Walter White lies on the floor in despair and suffers a nervous breakdown, another person wrote: "When Netflix tries to convince the 'The Witcher' fan base that Liam Hemsworth is a good replacement for Henry Cavill."
Many a fan senses a rift between Netflix and Cavill. Rumors had previously circulated that the streaming service, unlike the actor, was not a big fan of the Polish book: "Henry Cavill leaving 'The Witcher' after asking Netflix for the role and being a huge fan of the franchise makes the news that the screenwriters hate the books is becoming more and more plausible. They drove the man off the show."
In fact, many fans of the template saw Cavill as one of the few bright spots in the series implementation, which they felt took too many liberties: "Henry Cavill knew too much about the original source of 'The Witcher', so Netflix got rid of him."
A little more plausible, however, is the assumption that Cavill's return as Superman might have caused the changing of the guard. After all, it is also a prestigious but time-consuming role. Accordingly, some reactions are divided: "Yes, I wanted Henry Cavill to become Superman again. But not at the cost of losing him as Geralt the Witcher!"
