Henry Cavill was such a perfect Geralt of Rivia that few fans wondered who else was in contention for the role in Netflix’sThe Witcher, but it turns out his replacement, Liam Hemsworth, actually came quite close to nailing the part a few years ago.
Nevertheless, in the aftermath of Cavill defectingThe Witchercamp to dedicate more time toSuperman, it’s become a bit more obvious why producers didn’t have much trouble finding his replacement. The other Hemsworth brother, more widely known for appearing inThe Hunger Gamesfranchise, will assume the role of Geralt of Rivia starting from season 4, with Cavill set to feature in the series’ upcoming third season scheduled for summer 2023.
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News of Hemsworth’s past auditions come courtesy ofRedanian Intelligence, with sources not being able to corroborate whether the Australian actor was exactly the second favorite to become Geralt or just one of the other names that came close to getting the gig. Casting forThe Witcherallegedly took place in 2018 and Hemsworth was a top contender who only lost out to Cavill out of pure preference for the English actor, however, those old audition tapes were in all likeliness considered when it was time forThe Witcherto replace its star.
Hemsworth is not expected to start filming forThe Witcher’sfourth season until mid-2023, at the very least, meaning he’ll have plenty of time to get in peak Geralt form and analyze what aspects of Cavill’s portrayal are kept around.Witcherfans haven’t taken the news of Cavill’s departurelightly, as there are ongoing online petitions asking for the actor to be reinstated inThe Witcherand the showrunners to be fired instead.
Fan casting forThe Witcherwent really farback in 2017 when the show was first announced, as many posited actors like Mads Mikkelsen would also make for a fantastic Geralt or Vesemir, though in the end, Cavill ended up being one of the main draws for the show. It’s worth saying that the 32-year-old Hemsworth was only 28 at the time, so he is certainly a younger alternative to Cavill that could end up playing the role for longer ifThe Witchercan survive this painful recast.
Despite only last year stating he was willing to play Geralt for up to seven seasons, it’s widely believedCavill’s love forThe Witcher’ssource materialand creative differences with the creative team were partly at the root of his decision. In any case, fans of Netflix’sThe Witchercan rest assured Hemsworth was always deemed to be a great Geralt.
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