Netflix’s The Witcher has been mired in controversy since its very first season in 2019 given the various departures from Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, like killing Eskel. But the most controversial moment in the show’s history was when Henry Cavill announced nearly three years ago that he was stepping down as Geralt of Rivia.
Many lamented the loss of a self-prescribed fan who they fervently believed to be fighting in their corner against a creative team who ‘hated the source material’, giving newcomer Liam Hemsworth some big boots to fill. It’s no wonder he tried to curry favour ahead of Series 4 by saying that The Witcher 3 is one of the best games of all time.
He’s up against unending skepticism, without so much as one episode having aired. Even famed Mistborn author Brandon Sanderson believes Cavill was the key to getting this adaptation right.
Cavill Was A “Visionary”, Says Sanderson
Speaking to Polygon, Sanderson discussed his concerns about the state of fantasy adaptations in general, discussing how many have faltered in recent years despite their enormous budgets. During this conversation, The Witcher inevitably came up.
“Streaming has had a big problem with epic fantasy, and this has me worried,” Sanderson said. “Rings of Power and Wheel of Time have not gone as well as I would’ve hoped. Shadow and Bone lasted only two seasons, after a very strong first season.
We haven’t seen really great epic fantasy film television since the early, mid seasons of Game of Thrones.
“I really think the key member is that visionary filmmaker. Epic fantasy has responded poorly to too much oversight from above. I think that was The Witcher’s problem. You had that visionary: it was Henry Cavill. And they didn’t want to listen to him. So, well, there you go.”
It’s unclear exactly why Cavill left. Deadline reported that he only made a “short-term deal” for The Witcher, and decided to move on after three seasons instead of renewing his contract due to the demanding production schedule. However, fans speculate that it might have been due to creative differences, given his comments to the Philippine Star.
“The things that I pushed for, it was not necessarily just more dialogue,” Cavill said. “It was bringing a more book-accurate Geralt to the screen. Because as I’m sure you know in the books, Geralt is an amateur philosopher. He’s an intellectual. He’s wise and thoughtful. Yes, he’s at times morose, morbid, and snarky. But it’s important for me to have the character be three-dimensional […] All of my asks were along the lines of just being faithful to the source material.”
Whether it was simply too demanding to film, due to his upset over how the show was adapting the novels, or even his brief return as Superman before James Gunn ultimately recast the character, we don’t know for certain. But whatever the reason, Sanderson argues that Netflix lost a “visionary” when Cavill left.
