Summary

Liam Hemsworth shares a training photo ahead of
The Witcher
Season 4 debut but faces backlash from fans rooting for Henry Cavill.
Cavill voluntarily departed from
The Witcher,
leading to Hemsworth’s casting, but fans have resisted the change.
Season 4 filming starts this month with backlash expected due to Cavill’s departure and Hemsworth’s takeover as Geralt.

Liam Hemsworth has shared a new training image of his ripped physique ahead of his debut as Henry Cavill’s replacement in The Witcher Season 4. In a post shared by Hemsworth celebrating his new movie Land of Bad, the actor was besieged by Witcher fans who still cannot accept that he will be taking over from Cavill in the Netflix fantasy series.

The Witcher Release Date December 20, 2019 Seasons 3 Studio Cinesite, Hivemind, Netflix Franchise The Witcher Creator Lauren Schmidt

Land of Bad, which also stars Liam’s brother Luke Hemsworth and Russell Crowe, gained mixed reviews on its release in February, but Hemsworth shared a post to thank his fans for the support they have shown the movie. He also included an image of himself in the gym, showing off his beefed up bod, which he will need when taking on tough action scenes in the upcoming season of The Witcher.

However, even though Hemsworth’s post did not specifically mention his upcoming role, fans took no time in airing their grievances about the loss of Cavill as “their Geralt.” Ever since the announcement of Cavill’s departure and Hemsworth’s casting, fans have not wasted a single opportunity to point out that, in their eyes, Hemsworth is not Geralt. To prove that point, one of the first comments on Hemsworth post reads:

We don’t care, we want Henry.

This was followed by comments such as, “Not my Geralt,” and “You can’t replace Henry Cavill as Witcher.” However, there were several who tried to show support, noting how the “internet is a brutal place” when an actor cannot escape online discourse over certain roles.

Chris Hemsworth Did Not Force Henry Cavill Out of the Witcher
Netflix

The constant complaints about Hemsworth’s casting in Season 4 of The Witcher have mostly been aimed at the actor, even though he only took over the role after Henry Cavill decided that he no longer wanted to be part of the franchise. Some fans have used Netflix’s various announcement posts for other shows to vent their anger, but in the end, the reasons for Cavill’s departure came down to his own views on how the franchise was deviating from the source material.

While there have been many reports of Cavill’s disappointment at Netflix’s handling of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels and video games based in the fantasy world of The Witcher, ultimately, his exit from the show could not be seen as anything to do with Hemsworth. However, coming into the series on the back of such a controversial moment in its production was always going to be tricky, even with Cavill himself backing Hemsworth to carry the torch on for him. Previously, Cavill said:

“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. In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men. Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find.”

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Season 3 of The Witcher suffered some hefty review-bombing thanks to the announcement, and with many fans swearing to boycott the new season – including more than 200,000 who signed a petition for Cavill to return to the series – it will be interesting to see how Season 4 manages to deal with the backlash that is almost certain to follow its debut.

The Witcher
Season 4 begins filming this month, with episodes expected to hit Netflix in 2025.