The Witcher promises 'heroic sendoff' for Henry Cavill's Geralt

Henry Cavill will be bestowed the "most heroic sendoff" when he leaves The Witcher at the end of the third season, said showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich.

Of course, the actor announced that he would no longer be attached to The Witcher some time ago, and fans were swift to theorise that this was caused by creative differences between Cavill and the writers. This is speculation, mind you. Nothing has specifically been stated about the real reasons that Cavill stepped down from the role. "As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam [Hemsworth's] take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men," said the actor in a post to Instagram when the news broke.

While Hemsworth has been given the green light from Cavill, that hasn't helped the reception of the revelation that The Hunger Games star will portray the character for the fourth and final season. The petition on Change.org continues to go from strength to strength, boasting 292,000 signatures at the time of writing. For reference, once it surpasses 300,000, it becomes one of the most popular petitions on the whole platform.

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Recently, Hissrich and a publicist seemed to suggest that there is more to talk about regarding Cavill's exit, but we would be waiting a while for those tidbits. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the showrunner clarified that the third season was written as if the actor was staying with the show, but it is a fitting farewell for the actor and the passion he brought to the adaptation.

"Henry has given so much to the show and so we want to honor that appropriately," said Hissrich. "Geralt's big turn is about giving up neutrality and doing anything that he has to do to get to Ciri. And to me, it's the most heroic sendoff that we could have, even though it wasn't written to be that. Geralt has a new mission in mind when we come back to him in season 4. He's a slightly different Geralt than we expected. Now, by the way, that's an understatement."

The third season of The Witcher is expected to release in summer 2023.