It’s not every day the main character of a major franchise-starting series gets recast. While we’re still waiting on season three of The Witcher (expected next year), there’s huge news about season four: Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher himself, has been recast. Out with Henry Cavill; in with The Hunger Games‘ Liam Hemsworth.
Both actors posted cheery, torch-passing, carefully worded statements on Instagram:
Though no one mentions the Man of Steel, it’s worth noting that this news comes just days after Cavill confirmed that he will be returning to the role of Superman—which is likely to entail a lot of time and multiple films, as those superhero roles tend to do.
If fans accept the change—and fans of Cavill as Geralt are a passionate bunch—The Witcher could be huge for Hemsworth, who’s had a mixed bag of roles since playing one side of the Katniss/Peeta/Gale love triangle. He starred in 2015’s Independence Day: Resurgence and the TV series Most Dangerous Game, and is in the upcoming Poker Face—not the Rian Johnson series, but Russell Crowe’s second feature as a director.
The Witcher is one of Netflix’s biggest shows, and the core series for a franchise that now includes the animated The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf and the upcoming prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin, and is intended to also have a family-friendly spinoff eventually as well. It’s quite a risk to change up the face of such a series at this point—but with season three not arriving until next year, it’ll be a while before anyone even sees Hemsworth in the role.
