Television series recast actors all the time. However, when it happens to the main character? It’s surprising. But that’s what happened to Henry Cavill, who left his hit Netflix fantasy series The Witcher after season three. Liam Hemsworth will now play him as Geralt of Rivia in the upcoming fourth season. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich heavily hinted that part of the reason Cavill left the show was to focus on another character he was very invested in. Which one can readily guess meant the Man of Steel. Here’s what she had to say:
He had plans for other roles that he really wanted to commit himself to. And for us, you don’t want to hold someone and force them to be doing something that they don’t want to do. I think that’s why it felt like a really symbiotic decision.
Henry Cavill formally announced that he was leaving The Witcher in October, 2022. This was almost the exact same time he officially announced his return as Superman. But not long after, James Gunn and Peter Safran became co-heads of DC Studios. And they decided to give the Last Son of Krypton a total reboot/recast. We saw the results of that decision with this summer’s Superman film. So Cavill essentially left The Witcher, a successful series guaranteed further seasons, to focus on a role he wouldn’t get to play again. Aside from a cameo in Black Adam, a truly inglorious end. We can’t help but feel bad for the guy.
Actors leaving TV shows and finding themselves replaced is old hat in Hollywood. But it rarely happens to the lead actor/character on whom the series hinges. Although, it did happen to another lead actor famous for playing Kal-El before. The 1988-1992 Superboy syndicated series had a different lead in its first season, John Haymes Newton. After he left the series, they replaced him with another actor, Gerard Christopher, for the remainder of the show’s run. Although we feel bad for Cavill losing the Superman job, he’s got a series based on Warhammer 40,000 coming soon, as well as Highlander. And who knows? Given the multiverse of it all, maybe one day he dons the red cape again.