Henry Cavill nearly left The Witcher a lot sooner

The plot thickens, my friends. As I’m sure you’re now aware, Henry Cavill has announced that he’s departing from The Witcher with the upcoming third season being his last. Liam Hemsworth will then take on the role of Geralt of Rivia for the fourth season. It’ll come as a surprise to no one that fans are devastated. In fact, 80% said they wouldn’t watch the show without Cavill.

This follows the creation of a petition which begged Netflix to fire the writers and rehire Cavill. The actor hasn’t revealed exactly why he’s left but many assume it to be creative differences. Cavill is a huge fan of Andrzej Sapokowski’s source novels but it’s claimed that some creatives on the show have mocked the books, taking the TV series in a different direction. What we have now learnt is that Cavill almost left the series much sooner.

Check out this incredible The Witcher inspired pyrography art below.

Witcher news source Redenian Intelligence (via The Gamer) claims that Cavill’s exit from the show has been in the works since season two entered post-production. At the time, the outlet reported that “recasting Geralt was a growing possibility at Netflix,” but then a third season was announced starring Cavill.

Redenian Intelligence agreed with the sentiment that Cavill didn’t see “eye-to-eye” with the show’s producers. However, they believed his threats to leave the show weren’t serious and held back on reporting the news. Now, it’s clear that Cavill very much meant what he said. The outlet points out that during season two’s promotional tour, Cavill was very vocal about the fact that he pushed for a more book-accurate portrayal of Geralt.

In fact, he ended up mentioning it in almost every interview perhaps reflecting the behind the scenes tension. If you’re wondering why Cavill ended up returning for a third season, Redenian Intelligence claim the actor’s earnings were upped from $400,000 per episode to $1 million. That’s certainly a convincing incentive.