Speculation there’s more to Henry Cavill’s exit from The Witcher

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and there’s a lot wafting around Henry Cavill’s surprising exit from his popular Netflix series.

If you went by some of the fan reactions to Henry Cavill’s exit from The Witcher, you’d think the countdown clock to the apocalypse has just been switched on with four days to go.

“The worst day of my life,” one declared on Instagram, with no hint of irony. Said another on Twitter, “Alright, we boycott The Witcher, actually so livid”.

These proclamations may seem a tad hyperbolic, but it’s only a small dip into the fervent The Witcher fan community. They are out for blood.

It’s not so much Netflix’s replacement casting of Liam Hemsworth they’re objecting to – he seems to be a footnote in this story – but the split between Cavill and the high fantasy series about a gruff monster hunter.

And where there are feverish emotions, there is speculation, with long-rumoured ill-will behind the scenes now centre stage as fans struggle to understand why their beloved Cavill-as-Geralt reality has been shattered.

Cavill will still be in the third season of The Witcher. Picture: Netflix

On the surface, it seems Cavill’s exit is timed to his upcoming schedule and the confirmation that he will return to the DC movies as Superman.

Putting on Superman’s billowing cape is a significant commitment, one that may not leave Cavill with a lot of spare days, especially when he’s also just signed on to work with Guy Ritchie again on spy caper The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

The third season of The Witcher has already been shot with Cavill and is due to drop in mid-2023.

But that may not be all that’s going on. Forbes wrote a piece suggesting “it sure feels like there may be more to it,” pulling together some loose threads in the fans versus The Witcher’s production team furore.

Cavill has been a popular choice to play Geralt of Rivia, a supernaturally gifted monster hunter. Cavill is renowned for being a big fan and advocate of the source material – Andrzej Sapkowski’s books and stories and the video game adaptations.

So, to hardcore The Witcher fans, Cavill is one of them, especially to a vocal segment of the fanbase that felt the streaming series hasn’t hewed closely enough to the books.

The Witcher debuted on Netflix in 2019. Picture: Netflix

Cavill fuelled that fire when during an interview for the show’s second season in 2021, he hinted he wasn’t happy with Geralt’s characterisation.

Speaking to a Singaporean website, he said: “As far as the preparation goes, coming into this, I wanted the character to have a closer relationship to the character in the books, I wanted him to be more book accurate.

“And so it was more to do with making sure and campaigning for him to sound more intellectual, more philosophical, and to have an emotional side as well, rather than just be a grumpy snowman.

“Every day, I was pushing this stuff as far as prep goes… at the present he can be a little uncommunicative. And I’m obviously working on that.”

That sounds a lot like an actor unhappy with the writing. Even if he was being paid, according to Variety, $US400,000 per episode in the first season while The Hollywood Reporter said that was bumped to upwards of $1 million for the second instalment.

Henry Cavill was renowned as a champion of The Witcher books. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Then there was former The Witcher writer Beau DeMayo, who recently in his Instagram stories revealed The Witcher’s writers’ room had a lot of naysayers.

“I’ve been on shows – namely The Witcher – where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games, even actively mocking the source material. It’s a recipe for disaster and bad morale.

“Fandom as a litmus test checks egos, and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.”

Now, any supposed creative differences may not be why Cavill left. It really could’ve have been that he wanted to commit to his silver screen opportunities. And Cavill was apparently only on a three-season contract so the timing of everything just made it easier to call time.

For now, it’s a lot of extrapolations, theories and fan speculation.

The only thing that seems certain is the youngest Hemsworth brother has landed in a storm not of his making, and he is going to have a hard time winning over a fanbase that’s already felt burnt by the producers and have now just watched their champion exit stage left.

What if they all decide to follow?