THE WITCHER Star Henry Cavill May Have Started Clashing With Producers As Early As Season 2

THE WITCHER Star Henry Cavill May Have Started Clashing With Producers As Early As Season 2

More details about Henry Cavill's The Witcher departure have been revealed, and it sounds like the actor started butting heads with the show's producers as far back as season 2. Read on for details...

By JoshWilding - Nov 03, 2022 07:11 PM EST
Filed Under: The Witcher
Source: Redanian Intelligence (via SFFGazette.com)

As you no doubt already know by now, Henry Cavill is leaving The Witcher, and Geralt of Rivia, behind after the upcoming third season. There's been a lot of talk surrounding what led to this happening, but Redanian Intelligence (via SFFGazette.com) has today shared some compelling insights. 

According to the site, they first heard chatter last summer that Netflix might be considering recasting Geralt. The reason given at the time was that Cavill and the show's producers "weren't seeing eye to eye" regarding The Witcher's content and Geralt's continued role in the show.

They didn't report on this back then because it appeared too far-fetched, but it's now looking like Cavill has been unhappy for quite some time.

Despite renewing his deal to earn $1 million per episode of The Witcher as opposed to his earlier $400,000 (a more than acceptable bump in pay) the actor's unhappiness first became clear during a press tour for season 2.

He was quoted on multiple occasions explaining how important the series being faithful to Andrzej Sapkowski's books was to him and how that wasn't always easy when the show's creative team had their own ideas about how to adapt them. So, why did he stay?

The money helped, we're sure, though it sounds like Cavill decided to give producers one last chance to get Geralt right as the aforementioned press tour also saw him confirm he was committed to the original seven-season vision. 

"Then in 2020 and 2021, Cavill was working on Season 2 of The Witcher and was constantly having disagreements with the producers over the work he was doing," the site goes on to explain. "After Season 2 wrapped, he seriously considered leaving The Witcher, but was offered more money and decided to stay for at least one more season."

The site, a very reliable source for The Witcher news, noticed that various crew members started following Liam Hemsworth on social media while the series was in the midst of shooting its third season. That suggests Cavill's departure has been set in stone for some time and that everyone knew the third season would be his last even after he signed up to return.

The Witcher: Blood Origin premieres on December 25, while The Witcher Season 3 will follow shortly after in summer 2023. 

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MrDandy
MrDandy - 11/3/2022, 7:04 PM
Not surprising. He’s apparently a big fan of the books and the first season sticks close to the source but season 2 diverges pretty dramatically.
Fares
Fares - 11/3/2022, 7:21 PM
@TheDoctor1225 - The games take place after the books, so I guess in the eyes of the hardcore fans, they have license to go wild with it, which is a license a lot of those fans don't seem to permit for the show.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 11/3/2022, 7:05 PM
Netflix giving Cavill more money to stay
kazuma
kazuma - 11/3/2022, 7:19 PM
Season 1 was great. I haven't seen season 2 yet (not sure if I will now), but how do they plan on continuing this show after him leaving? Henry Cavill was the driving force behind the show. He was the reason why so many people watched. The cast and crew did good/great but we can all agree that Cavill being loved by people around the world definitely helped.
Origame
Origame - 11/3/2022, 8:09 PM
@kazuma - replacing him with Liam Hemsworth.

No I'm not joking lol.
kazuma
kazuma - 11/3/2022, 8:31 PM
@Origame - I know they're replacing him. I still don't understand that.
SeanMPC
SeanMPC - 11/3/2022, 7:32 PM
He's said this in interviews before, but it just boils down to him wanting to actually have more dialogue as Geralt (he's apparently smarter/more philosophical in the games & books?) and Netflix were more happy with the show's man-of-few-words version, especially seeing how well his many utterances of "...[frick]." went down online.
Colton
Colton - 11/3/2022, 7:42 PM
@SeanMPC - Geralt is very very talkative in the books and quite philosophical at times. We got to see a tiny bit of that in season 1 with the "I'd rather not choose at all" speech.
GetsugaTensho22
GetsugaTensho22 - 11/3/2022, 7:33 PM
House of the Dragon & Seasons 1-4 of GoT are perfect examples of how to adapt material while making changes that help streamline the story for the medium it’s in, like a master butcher preparing done cuts of meat.

The Witcher Netflix is what happens when coddled, upstart writers think they can “fix” and do better than the artist who created the story in the first place. It’s dripping with self righteous arrogance.

(I was going to include Rings of Power, but I’ve only seen 3 episodes now and while I don’t hate it, I do find it criminally boring)
Colton
Colton - 11/3/2022, 7:43 PM
@GetsugaTensho22 - one thing that popped into my head while watching the first episodes of those hotd and rop was that witcher really needs to up its game in storytelling compared to hotd and production value compared to rop.
Colton
Colton - 11/3/2022, 7:40 PM
Plain to be seen. He fought tooth and nail to have an intimate moment with Roach as he/she Wass dying. Hissrich wanted it to be a kind of light hearted, jokey scene. The series is more or less [frick]ed now.
Shivermetimbers
Shivermetimbers - 11/3/2022, 7:49 PM
Came here thinking that between this and the fact that he got blackballed at WB meant that Cavill was difficult to work with despite his nice guy, polite persona. After reading, it sounds like he is right. I am assuming the show will go to crap after he leaves and I respect him more for pushing back in this instance.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 11/3/2022, 8:11 PM
FFS, this is not about "creative clashes", Cavill obviously wants to focus on the upcoming Superman movie.
TheVandalore
TheVandalore - 11/3/2022, 8:22 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - cuz obliviously life is simple and it can't be a mixture of creative differences leading to him accepting those new offers and leaving... its obviously the Superman gig.... because you know better than industry insiders. Thank God your divine ability to read websites and cast down definitive judgment is shared with us, we would be lost without your wisdom.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 11/3/2022, 8:29 PM
@TheVandalore - Thank you.
Supercat6376
Supercat6376 - 11/3/2022, 9:03 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - 🤣
Origame
Origame - 11/3/2022, 9:07 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - honestly considering he's a massive fan of the Witcher it seems like ideal circumstances could've led to him sticking with the franchise despite the new offer for superman, either by working something out or preferring the lack of issues with the Witcher. Unfortunately as it turns out there were those issues with the Witcher. It may not be the main reason he's leaving but it's definitely up there.
TheVandalore
TheVandalore - 11/3/2022, 10:04 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - no... thank you.
BritishMonkey
BritishMonkey - 11/3/2022, 8:20 PM
Not surprising in the slightest.
abd00bie
abd00bie - 11/4/2022, 1:18 AM
"As early as season 2".. ? It hasn't even been a year yet since season 2 came out lmao
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 11/4/2022, 4:37 AM
Those producers forgot that Henry Cavill is a nerd/geek. Of course he against producers and the director how the change the story,far from the books and the game.
TheManWithoutFear
TheManWithoutFear - 11/4/2022, 4:45 AM
1 million dollars per episode??!
DemonTweeks
DemonTweeks - 11/4/2022, 4:55 AM
i havent broken this news of Cavill leaving the role to my wife yet. she will be heart broken.To make it worse im going to soften the blow by telling her Hemsworth is taking over....... then shatter her all over again when i say "no not that Hemsworth, they other one"
TheOtherOn
TheOtherOn - 11/4/2022, 5:44 AM
Here's the harsh reality/criticism that many fans of Henry here on this site may not want to hear/accept.

Was he promised anything in the signing contract about either his role or the overall direction of the show?

If not then his "job" as an actor is to do what directors ask for and if it's within the contract. He may be the brightest person on the set but he is there to do his job, which is to act and perform on the material he's given.

He may have my vote as a passionate gamer who cares for the story adoption but as a professional, he sounds like an idiot who's hard to work with.
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