Why Did Liam Hemsworth Replace Henry Cavill in The Role of Geralt in ‘The Witcher’ Season 4?

Why was Liam Hemsworth chosen to Play Geralt in ‘The Witcher’ by replacing Henry Cavill? Here’s what we know.

The Witcher Season 3 on Netflix was leading up to the war between Nilfgaard, Temaria, and all of the elves tired of being abused by people. There are a lot of things happening in The Witcher’s story, and yet at this critical moment leading up to the end of the series, the main actor Henry Cavill has left the show. It seems Henry Cavill quit being Geralt of Rivia in order to focus more on his role as Superman in the DC universe, meanwhile, Liam Hemsworth has been cast in his place.

It’s been pretty universally hated on Twitter, as fans bemoan the jarring effect a sudden switch in appearance will have on the show’s immersion. Also, fans of The Witcher loved Cavill’s ability to capture Geralt’s demeanor, as well as his nearly identical face and physique. It remains to be seen how well Hemsworth will do to portray the gruff, yet charismatic Butcher of Blaviken, but the difference in build, voice, and face will be apparent.

Why was Liam Hemsworth chosen to Play Geralt in ‘The Witcher’?

There’s no telling how he plays the character yet, and it’s likely he’ll remain quiet for a little while, as fans have not been overly nice to him after receiving the news. Is he a good choice for the character? Well, most of Hemswroth’s filmography consists of B-movie comedies and action. He’s never tackled fantasy like this, but he does have the looks and charisma to play a wolfish Geralt, albeit who knows if he understands the character as much as Cavill did.

Hopefully, Geralt won’t become take a backseat to the other characters, devolving completely into the strong and silent type. In the books and in the games, Geralt is an intellectual, a philosopher who dislikes viewing the world in black-and-white terms. It’s that thoughtfulness that makes him morally upstanding compared to other witchers. Seeming less heartless, and more willing to save ‘monsters’ as well as humans.

Liam Hemsworth replaces Henry Cavill as Geralt in the witcher

Cavill felt the show writers were veering too far from the source material, saying “I wanted the character to be more book accurate. And so it was more to do with making sure and campaigning for him to sound more intellectual, more philosophical, and to have an emotional side as well, rather than just be a grumpy snowman.” It’s easy to write Geralt off as the gritty, broody badass but that’s an oversimplification of his character that completely negates a third of ‘The Witcher’s charm.

It isn’t impossible for Hemsworth to pull off a good performance. But he has big shoes to fill in terms of audience expectations. It will also be difficult to maintain the show’s integrity with such a big change in casting.

Hopefully, Hemsworth will fight for the character of Geralt to have a personality as well. Or, will he just content himself to be a strong, silent, boring womanizer? Maybe Cavill was right to abandon the ship and focus on his Superman role. You can’t do a fandom justice when you don’t show respect to the source material.

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