The Witcher: Henry Cavill told us why he's leaving years ago

Fans of Netflix’s The Witcher received some pretty devastating news over the weekend: the show’s fourth season will be moving ahead without Henry Cavill.

Netflix confirmed that The Witcher season four will see Liam Hemsworth step into the mud-caked boots of Geralt of Rivia. After two seasons (with a third on the way) Cavill is ready to move on.

“My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season four,” Cavill wrote in a post on Instagram.

“In my stead, the fantastic Mr Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam's take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men.”

The news has been met with raised eyebrows, criticism, and even threats to boycott The Witcher going forward. So why exactly has Henry Cavill decided to hang up his swords?

Most speculate that the shocking departure has something to do with the fact that Cavill has signed on to return as Superman in the DCU for multiple projects over the next few years. Certainly, playing the Man of Steel would arguably leave little time for monster hunting across The Continent. However, others have pointed out that Cavill may actually have already told us the reason for his exit years ago.

As you probably know, Cavill is a massive fan of The Witcher - both the video games by CD Projekt RED and the original novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. There are multiple instances from previous interviews currently floating around social media that suggest Cavill wasn’t too happy about the way the source material was being handled in the Netflix show.

Over on The Witcher subreddit and Twitter, fans have dug up old interviews with showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich and Cavill that speak volumes. As you can see below, there are repeated references to Cavill wanting to stay true to the source material while also working to serve the showrunner’s vision.

Cavill had previously claimed he was fully committed to The Witcher's seven-season plan - so long as the show could continue to tell great stories which honored Sapkowski’s work. Given some of the more substantial changes to the story in The Witcher’s second season, and recent reports that The Witcher writers “actively dislike” the source material, it could well be that Cavill decided it was time to move on.