The Witcher season four is finally here and with a new Geralt at the helm. And it seems as though the controversial replacement may have been worth it after all.
Back in 2022, it was announced that Henry Cavill would be stepping down from his role in Netflix’s The Witcher after taking on the role of Geralt of Rivia for three seasons.
With the actor reportedly not happy with the direction of both his character and the series as a whole, it seems his departure was mainly due to creative differences which is why his replacement was announced shortly after.
The role would now be handed to Australian actor Liam Hemsworth who will be starring as Geralt for the first time in The Witcher season four. Now that season four has debuted, early reviews hint that Hemsworth may just be the better of the two.
Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has already stated that Geralt will feel a lot different, the new season is set to focus on The Witcher finding his humanity after years of monster hunting.
In a report by Charlene Badasie over on CBR, Hemsworth’s Geralt is a lot warmer and invites the audience closer and reminds the audience that this is a man “wrestling with purpose”.
“All these tweaks may be small, but together, they amounted to something much smarter than a cosmetic refresh,” the report reads.
“Hemsworth’s Geralt isn’t trying to replace Cavill’s; he’s designed to repair the show’s imbalance.
Where Cavill’s Geralt was powerful but often emotionally locked, Hemsworth’s interpretation opens the door to something the series has long needed: a Geralt who talks more, feels, and occasionally even smiles – the version closer in spirit to Andrzej Sapkowski’s books and CD Projekt Red’s games.
That’s the genius twist.”
