It is not bad at all that Geralt of Riva is played from season 4 by Liam Hemsworth, after all, there are such actor changes also with James Bond & Co. so “The Witcher” producer Tomek Baginski. But can one really compare that?
“The Witcher” without Henry Cavill: Can that work at all? Many fans have their doubts and are already convinced that the fourth season of the Netflix series with Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Riva is not under a good star. Whether and how well the cast change will work, we will probably only find out sometime in the course of 2025 – but at least Geralt is not alone in this respect.
Other well-known franchises have already changed actors, such as Rhodey / War Machine (first Terrence Howard, then Don Cheadle) or Bruce Banner / Hulk (first Edward Norton, then Mark Ruffalo) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is also emphasized by “The Witcher” producer Tomek Baginski, who also brings up other prominent examples in an interview with the Polish site Wyborcza:
“Henry was a fantastic Geralt, but in the history of pop culture there have been many actors who played the same character and then the character itself changed,” Baginski told Wyborcza (via CBR.com). “I’m very happy that the series came into being and became so popular. “
“‘The Witcher’ has reached the level of Batman, Superman and James Bond. Maybe we were hoping we wouldn’t see a new version [of Geralt] for a few years, but it’s already happening. And that’s nothing new for the iconic pop culture heroes. “
CAN YOU REALLY COMPARE JAMES BOND AND “THE WITCHER”?
Henry Cavil dropped The Witcher because the Superman was going to be big supposedly, then DC drops Hebert Cavil has Superman…
Really hope Henry gets James Bond role cause he deserves it man https://t.co/v2dSjMdcg7– DEEPSEXY (@guiguigas0505) June 28, 2023
With this, Baginski is of course at least partly right: Batman, Superman or James Bond have been played by many different actors over the years and almost always the actor changes were accompanied by bitter discussions and fan outcries – just think of the excitement about Daniel Craig, the first blond Bond, before he silenced almost all critical voices with “Casino Royale”.
So a change of actor is not in itself a doomsday, and black-painted fan reactions should probably not be overestimated. But at the same time, the case is a bit different here, after all, Batman, Superman or James Bond have not been recast in the middle of a series so far – rather, the recasts have always been accompanied by a certain reorientation or even a direct franchise reboot.
But this may also be an opportunity for those responsible for “The Witcher. The franchise has long since ceased to be one of Netflix’s flagships and has become very controversial among fans and the trade press. So maybe the change from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth offers the ideal opportunity to give “The Witcher” a general overhaul or at least a little reorientation…
