One of last year’s biggest shocks was delivered when Netflix and Henry Cavill came to the end of their fascinating and immensely successful relationship. The Witcher would no longer be a feasible and viable option for the Brit, they said. He has his hands full with DC projects, they said. The writers on the show disrespected the source, they said. And while the theories supporting the latter of the three reasons spread like wildfire, the Superman actor silently closed a deal with Amazon Studios on the sidelines for a live-action adaptation of the Warhammer table-top gaming universe.
Now, fans who are left dazed and confused from an overload of good-and-bad news and a whiplash-inducing rollercoaster ride of emotions in the span of a few months are begging Netflix to end their misery and stop the further production of The Witcher beyond Season 3.
Henry Cavill Quits, Taking The Witcher Fandom With Him
Henry Cavill is the certified Geralt of our generation. In fact, he is destined to forever own the role as far as Witcher adaptations are concerned. He is the original Geralt – the very first White Wolf – and the added factors such as Cavill’s investment in the character, his love for the original texts, his inextinguishable respect for Andrzej Sapkowski, and impeccable imitation and portrayal of Doug Cockle’s voice from the Witcher video game series has deified the actor in the fandom’s eyes.
It was only inevitable then that the fandom would begin to protest and start losing interest in the live-action series when Henry Cavill announced his departure in the final days of an otherwise perfect October. The actor’s exeunt, which was quickly followed by mass outcries, managed to rack up petitions and online movements asking for the actor to return and advocating for the firing of writers who intentionally do not want to respect the source material – something that Cavill had explicitly asked for if he was to carry on as Geralt for seven seasons with the streamer.
As expected, the resignation was permanent and no amount of begging and praying on the audience’s part helped Netflix dig out of the pit that the streamer had dragged itself into.
Fans React to Henry Cavill’s Exit From The Witcher
For months, all that has haunted the audience as far as Netflix is concerned is the immense waste of a perfectly wonderful IP that is the Witcher. There was no need for the series to go radically off-track with its Voleth Meir arc rather than stick closely to the storytelling portrayed in the games. If the writers truly were behind Henry Cavill quitting a show that he so strongly and actively voted for and fought to get, then even Doug Cockle joining the cast as Geralt wouldn’t have helped Netflix’s case, let alone bringing in a Hemsworth brother.
Fans know and understand this, which is why comments actively asking for Netflix to end The Witcher post its Season 3 storyline has racked up a storm in the Instagram comments section attached to Cavill’s post. They only ask for one simple favor: “it would be better to just stop the series.” Others have been more muted in vocalizing their disappointment claiming, “Such a shame! Geralt was practically made for you, and you made it your own,” and “This is the worst news I’ve ever heard.”
As for Cavill himself, he is now serving as the executive producer of the other game-to-live-action series he is adapting at Amazon: Warhammer 40,000. And call it coincidence or irony, one of the first promises on his part after announcing the Warhammer Cinematic Universe was his very vocal plan to stick close to the source material moving forward.
The Witcher is now available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: Instagram | Henry Cavill
