Actor Henry Cavill is known for playing a plethora of iconic characters, one of which is Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s The Witcher. His exit from the show came as a shock for the fans who thought the actor was perfectly fitting for the role. Owing to the fact that his leaving The Witcher and joining the DCU happened almost simultaneously, fans blamed him for separating from the show to play Superman.
Another theory, which is more plausible, is that Henry Cavill did not appreciate the Netflix show deviating to a certain extent from the source material. We all know how much he loves Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels and video games. Not staying true to the original certainly could’ve been the deal-breaker for Henry Cavill and Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt of Rivia, seems to agree.
The Voice of Geralt of Rivia Understands Henry Cavill
During an appearance at MCM Comic-Con, Doug Cockle talked about Henry Cavill’s exit from The Witcher. Although Cavill has never given a reason for the resignation himself, Cockle believes that he took the right step. Cockle gave his voice to Geralt of Rivia in CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher trilogy which ended in 2015.
Cockle stated that while Cavill hasn’t said it himself, there is speculation about him not agreeing with the storyline of the show. If that’s the case then Cockle completely understands Cavill’s choice and blasted the creators for deviating “quite so severely” from the books and games.
“If that’s the case, I can completely understand that, because Henry is such a huge fan of the games and the books and the writers on the Netflix series have chosen, for whatever reason they did so, to deviate quite severely from the books and the games. Whether that’s good or not? That’s down to what you like. I personally don’t understand the choice, but… there you go. I think that’s why… Henry’s leaving.”
So, like a lot of fans who are supporting Cavill’s supposed decision for wanting to stick to the source material, it looks like Cockle is one of them. The voice artist ended his statement by saying that Liam Hemsworth, who is replacing Cavill, has big shoes to fill. This is absolutely true as it couldn’t possibly be a piece of cake following up to the bar that the Enola Holmes actor has set.
The Witcher’s Showrunner Talks About Henry Cavill’s Exit
Former The Witcher writer, Beau DeMayo, once stated that a few of the writers of the series hated the source material and would consecutively mock both the novels and the video games, therefore going astray from them both. Program creator, Lauren S. Hissrich finally opened up about Cavill leaving the show and denied the claims of the former writer.
As for why Cavill actually left the show, no reason has been made public just yet. According to Hissrich though, discussions will be held when the release of season three comes closer. She stated that while she has a lot to say, she, just like the fans, doesn’t know the exact reason why Cavill bid his farewell to the Netflix show.
“I do have a lot to say and I think that there’s a lot of, you know… we’ll obviously never get into exactly why Henry left, all of the reasons, but I can say it’s been a mutually respectful relationship… So please, please, please come back in six months when we can talk.”
Looks like no one but Cavill knows why he had to suddenly leave the character behind. For now, all fans of the show can do is hope and pray that Hemsworth’s portrayal manages to live up to their expectations!
The Witcher is available to stream on Netflix.
Source: MCM Comic Con
