Superman Related Or Show Problems?

Netflix shocked the world on Saturday afternoon when they announced one of its biggest stars would be leaving one of its biggest shows. Henry Cavill will be leaving The Witcher after the upcoming season 3, and handing the role over to Liam Hemsworth for season 4.

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a bit of entertainment news met with such universal condemnation. Nothing against the younger Hemsworth brother, but if there was anything every Witcher book and game fan agreed on, it was how perfect Cavill was for the role. So what happened here?

The Occam’s Razor explanation is that this is directly tied to the recent announcement that Cavill would be back to starring as Superman in the DCEU, now under the direction of James Gunn. It’s the other role he has that everyone believes he’s perfect for, and the idea is that it’s a bigger part with a likely bigger paycheck, and he couldn’t do both.

It sure feels like there may be more to it than that, however. While difficult, it’s not impossible for actors to juggle a TV show with movies. And we know that Henry Cavill was absolutely, enormously passionate about playing Geralt, so there’s extra motivation for him to make that work somehow, and not leave the series unfinished.

The theory is that there may be some behind the scenes drama on The Witcher that perhaps was an extra motivator for Henry to leave, not just because of his upcoming Superman duties. In past interviews, Cavill seems to suggest he’s really, really wanted to the show to hew closer to the books than it has been:

“As far as the preparation goes, coming into this, I wanted the character to have a closer relationship to the character in the books, I wanted him to be more book accurate. And so it was more to do with making sure and campaigning for him to sound more intellectual, more philosophical, and to have an emotional side as well, rather than just be a grumpy snowman. Every day I was pushing this stuff as far as prep goes…At the present he can be a little uncommunicative. And I’m obviously working on that.”

And then, recently, another story broke about a former producer, Beau DeMayo, on The Witcher talking about how the writers on the show disliked the games and books the series was based on:

“I’ve been on show – namely Witcher – where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material),” DeMayo said. “It’s a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos, and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.”

This is not some anonymous source stirring up drama, this was an actual producer on the show. If accurate, you can see how such a view would drive Henry Cavill, an enormous superfan of both the books and games, absolutely nuts. The end result, especially in season 2, felt like a show that was being carried by Cavill’s performance, but was altering too much about the source material for fans’ liking. And Cavill himself being a die-hard fan no doubt necessitated conflict there. It is not rocket science to connect these dots.

As for the show itself, we will at least have one more season with Cavill as Geralt, but it sure feels like they should just can it after he leaves. There’s no way the show will survive losing him, more so than other series where this has happened, and again, no offense to Hemsworth. It’s just unfathomable to see the series working without Cavill’s central performance.

My guess is the idea is five books, five seasons, with Hemsworth filling in for the last two to make it to the end. But man, it’s going to be a rough road to get there now, and this is a tremendous loss for Netflix and Witcher fans, even if part of it ends up being WB and DC’s gain.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.