The transition from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth’s Geralt in Netflix’s The Witcher show will be “seamless” and based on a “meta” explanation inspired by the series’ original books.
That’s according to series executive producer Tomek Baginski, who discussed the show’s upcoming third season — the last to star Henry Cavill — in an interview with Yahoo Newswhere the move to Hemsworth for the following seasons is mentioned.
“We have a very, very good plan to introduce our new Geralt and our new vision of Geralt with Liam,” Baginski said.
“I’m not going to go deep into those ideas because that would be a huge spoiler, (but) it’s also very, very close to the meta ideas that are deeply embedded in the books, especially book five.”
Baginski appears to be referring to the events of author Andrzej Sapkowski’s fifth novel in the series: Mistress of the Lake.
By this point, Ciri has developed interdimensional powers (as fans of The Witcher 3 know), and this novel is heavily inspired by the story of King Arthur. At the end of the novel, Geralt and Yennefer are transported to an unknown location, hinted to be Avalon of the Arthurian legend.
This kind of dimension hopping certainly leaves the narrative open to finding a new Geralt and could be the “meta ideas” Baginski mentioned.
“He is very accurate from the lore,” he added. “It’s very close to what was laid out in the books, and I think this change will be pretty seamless.
“But at the same time, it’s going to be a new Geralt, it’s going to be a new face for that character, and I think it’s also going to be very, very exciting to see.”
Cavill announced his departure from the show in October last year, along with confirming Hemsworth to take over the role of Geralt.
“My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventure, and alas, I will be leaving my locket and swords behind for Season 4,” Cavill said at the time.
“In my place, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will take up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest literary characters, I pass the torch in awe of the time spent incarnating Geralt, and eager to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of all men. Liam, good sir, this character has such wonderful depth, enjoy the dive and see what you can find.”
It was widely speculated that Cavill was unhappy with the production and didn’t like that he was taking liberties with the source material.
If, as Baginski’s comments suggest, the fourth season will be based on the (chronologically) final novel in The Witcher saga, it’s unclear where the narrative will move.