Henry Cavill’s ‘Witcher’ Exit: Superman Related Or Show Problems?

The world was shocked by the announcement that one of its biggest stars would be leaving. Liam Hemsworth will take over the role of The Witcher after the 3rd season.

I have never heard a piece of entertainment news met with such universal condemnation. There was nothing against the younger Hemsworth brother, but if there was anything every game and book fan agreed on, it was that he was the perfect choice to play the role. What did happen here?

The recent announcement that Superman will be starring in the DCEU under the direction of James Gunn is the reason for this. It's the other role he has that everyone thinks he's perfect for, and the idea is that it's a bigger part with a bigger paycheck, and he couldn't do both

It seems like there is more to it than that. It is possible for actors to work on a TV show and a movie at the same time. There is extra motivation for Henry to make that work because he was so passionate about playing Geralt.

The theory is that there may be some behind the scenes drama on The Witcher that inspired Henry to leave. In the past, he has said that he wants the show to be closer to the books than it has been.

“As far as the preparation goes, coming into this, I wanted the character to have a closer relationship to the character in the books, I wanted him 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. Every day I was pushing this stuff as far as prep goes…At the present he can be a little uncommunicative. And I'm obviously working on that.”

Beau DeMayo, a former producer on the show, talked about how the show's writers disliked the games and books they were based on.

"I've been on show - namely Witcher - where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material)," DeMayo said. "It's a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos, and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you're allowed to add to its legacy."

This is not an anonymous source stirring up drama, this is a real producer on the show. You can see how crazy Henry would be if he saw that view. The end result, especially in season 2, felt like a show that was being carried by Cavill's performance, but was changing too much about the source material for fans' liking. There was a conflict because of the fact that he was a die-hard Fan. These dots are not connected by rocket science.

We will have at least one more season with the man as Geralt, but it seems like they should be able to do it after he leaves. It is not possible for the show to survive losing him, more so than other series where this has happened, and again, no offense to him. It is hard to see that the series is working without his performance being the center of attention.

I think the idea is five books, five seasons, with Chris Hemsworth filling in for the last two. Even if part of it ends up being WB and DC's gain, it's a huge loss for fans of the series.

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The Herokiller series and The Earthborn trilogy are available for purchase.