After three seasons as the Netflix series’ leading man, Henry Cavill is putting down his swords and moving on.
On Friday, the actor announced his departure from the role on Instagram, writing, “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 4.”
He then revealed that actor Liam Hemsworth will “take up the mantle” of the heroic blonde-haired character.
“I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and excitement to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men,” Cavill wrote.
On his Instagram, “The Hunger Games” star Hemsworth wrote on Saturday that he was “over the moon about the opportunity to play Geralt of Rivia” as a fan of the show.
“Henry Cavill has been an incredible Geralt, and I’m honoured that he’s handed me the reins and allowed me to pick up the White Wolf’s blades for the next chapter of his adventure,” he wrote.
“The Witcher,” which debuted on Netflix in 2019, is based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy book series and was created for television by Lauren Schmidt. It received positive reviews and spawned a second season, which was released last year. Season 3 will premiere next summer.
Cavill spoke about lobbying for the role after playing a popular video game based on the literary series at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, ahead of the show’s premiere.
“I’m a gamer,” he told Vulture at the time. “I was extremely enthusiastic about the games.” ‘I really hope they make this into a TV show or movie,’ I thought.
When the show was finally in the works, Cavill was eager to be considered for the lead role, even before the script was finalised.
“I wasn’t going to let it pass me by without giving it my all,” Cavill said at Comic-Con. “I was constantly annoying my agents.” ‘They’re not ready,’ they said.
Cavill, on the other hand, is undoubtedly focused on reprising another iconic previous role on his resume.
He was recently confirmed to reprise his role as Clark Kent/Man of Steel in upcoming DC projects. (Both CNN and HBO Max are owned by the same company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Following Cavill’s mid-credits cameo in this month’s successful “Black Adam,” a crossover film starring Superman and Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam is being considered, as is a standalone sequel to 2013’s “Man of Steel.”
Just days before his post about “The Witcher,” Cavill shared an image of himself as Superman on Instagram, along with a video about his return.
“This is just a taste of what’s to come, my friends. “A new dawn of hope,” he wrote.
