The Witcher: Henry Cavill Leaves the Series After Season 3

No one was expecting this surprising news: As "The Witcher" star Henry Cavill announced last Saturday, he will quit the highly popular series around the witcher Geralt of Rivia after three seasons. On Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the 39-year-old shared the news with his fans, where he literally spoke of laying down his Witcher medallion and swords for Season 4. At the same time, Cavill announced that Liam Hemsworth will carry on playing Geralt, which means that at least the series itself will be kept alive. 

This week, Cavill's departure has fueled speculation as to what his motivations for leaving early might have been. It is obvious to assume that he will now fully dedicate himself to his return to the role of Superman in the DCEU. As we've known since at least the promotional stages of "Black Adam", Cavill is coming back for a sequel to "Man of Steel" - and probably also for a "Black Adam vs Superman" teased by Dwayne Johnson. However, is that really the reason for his early parting from "The Witcher"?

A second plausible theory focuses on plot-related decisions that Cavill, as a big fan of the books, is said to have disagreed with. In interviews, for example, he has often spoken about how he constantly advocated for the series character Geralt to be closer to the novel character, and if possible with no creative deviations. This request was consistently disregarded, making Henry Cavill's departure inevitable, in the opinion of many fans. 

Whether the quality of the series will suffer from this drastic cast change is not apparent yet. The majority of fans are still surprised and upset about Cavill's decision to leave and do not yet want to imagine a change of actors. This will not be easy for successor Liam Hemsworth, who will not only have to follow in the footsteps of Cavill, but will also have to win over a discerning fan base. Hemsworth at least seems to be in high spirits and expresses his joy about his new role on Instagram. The final episodes with Henry Cavill will be released in the summer of 2023. After that, it's not known when production on Season 4 will begin.