The Witcher season four is finally here and with a new Geralt at the helm. And it seems as though the controversial replacement may have been worth it after all.
Back in 2022, it was announced that Henry Cavill would be stepping down from his role in Netflix’s The Witcher after taking on the role of Geralt of Rivia for three seasons.
With the actor reportedly not happy with the direction of both his character and the series as a whole, it seems his departure was mainly due to creative differences which is why his replacement was announced shortly after.
The role would now be handed to Australian actor Liam Hemsworth who will be starring as Geralt for the first time in The Witcher season four. Now that season four has debuted, early reviews hint that Hemsworth may just be the better of the two.
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Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has already stated that Geralt will feel a lot different, the new season is set to focus on The Witcher finding his humanity after years of monster hunting.
In a report by Charlene Badasie over on CBR, Hemsworth’s Geralt is a lot warmer and invites the audience closer and reminds the audience that this is a man “wrestling with purpose”.
“All these tweaks may be small, but together, they amounted to something much smarter than a cosmetic refresh,” the report reads.
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“Hemsworth's Geralt isn't trying to replace Cavill's; he's designed to repair the show's imbalance.
Where Cavill's Geralt was powerful but often emotionally locked, Hemsworth's interpretation opens the door to something the series has long needed: a Geralt who talks more, feels, and occasionally even smiles - the version closer in spirit to Andrzej Sapkowski's books and CD Projekt Red's games.
That's the genius twist.”
The two sides of Geralt
As many The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt fans will know, Geralt is a multi-dimensional character capable of extreme harm and extreme kindness.
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His love for Yennefer and Ciri for example shows his warm heart whilst his laid-back attitude can sometimes be viewed as cold and uncaring.
However, it seems as though Hemsworth understands this and is willing to show us the idiosyncrasies of Geralt of Rivia.
With all eight episodes of The Witcher season four expected to drop on Netflix on 30 October, we do not have long until we officially find out if this recast was a hit or a miss.
However, if this report is anything to go by, Hemsworth manages to capture both sides of Geralt of Rivia which will make for very exciting viewing indeed.
Topics: The Witcher, CD Projekt Red, TV And Film, Netflix