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The Witcher Officially Explains Henry Cavill’s Geralt Recasting In Universe (& It Makes Sense)
Geralt of Rivia looks very different in The Witcher Season 4, and the Netflix show offers up a convincing in-universe explanation as to why that is. Henry Cavill rocked The Witcher fandom when he quit the show back in October 2022, though he did still return for a third and final season. The former Superman actor’s reasoning is believed to have been a mix of creative differences regarding the direction of the show (with some unverified reports claiming greater degrees of acrimony), scheduling issues, and a desire to explore other opportunities. Regardless, Cavill is out, and Liam Hemsworth is in. Warning: Contains very mild spoilers for The Witcher Season 4.
The Witcher is certainly not the first TV show to have to recast a major actor, and it could have chosen to simply ignore the matter entirely, which has often been the approach with these things. Instead, it chooses to add in a framing device: Season 4 opens around 100 years in the future, with an older man named Stribog reading the stories of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri to a group of enraptured kids. This reframes the events as a story being passed down through the years, which accounts for discrepancies in the description and how the storyteller portrays Geralt.
The Witcher’s Explanation For Geralt’s Recasting Was The Right One
The Witcher Season 4 takes a knowing approach to Geralt’s recast. When one listener, Nimue, tells Stribog that he’s telling it wrong, he exclaims: “It was 100 years ago. There is no right and wrong.” This seems to directly address the fact a new actor is in the role, as well as, perhaps, an attempt at trying to explain away the differences between the TV show and the books. It also plays on viewers expectations, drawing out the reveal of Hemsworth’s Geralt by only showing the character from behind for the first minute or so, before eventually closing in on his face.
From there, we get several scenes from past seasons of the show, but recreated with Hemsworth as Geralt instead of Cavill: the fight with the kikimora, his and Yennefer’s power kiss, Geralt meeting Ciri, and his fight with Vilgefortz from Season 3 are all told here. They cement the fact that Hemsworth is now firmly the one playing the character, while still fitting within the meta narrative framework.
Ultimately, this is a smart way of addressing it. There was certainly an expectation it’d do something, and so adding in a framing device and a meta-touch to proceedings is an easy and effective way of explaining the recasting, without making too dramatic a change or giving a more convoluted answer. Given previous reports had even indicated there could be some kind of multiversal explanation, which might’ve made Hemsworth a different Geralt entirely, it’s far better to continue on with the same version of the character and just nod towards the replacement. From there, the show doesn’t linger on the recasting, simply allowing Hemsworth to do his job as Geralt, which is as it should be.
The Witcher Season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.
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