Here’s why “The Witcher” recasting could work

One of the first things that “The Witcher” teaches us about Geralt of Rivia is that his kind is distrusted by commoners and disdained by nobles and mages . . . until their services are required. Witchers are this world’s exterminators except the vermin they hunt are deadly creatures from another sphere of existence. A successful hunt gets them hailed as heroes, especially if the Witcher in question has a PR agent (aka a bard) tagging along with him. In the main, however, townsfolk do not roll out the welcome wagon for these slayers for hire. 

Keep that in mind as we approach Henry Cavill’s final five episodes as Geralt. His fans already miss him. I’ve experienced this firsthand, courtesy of a guest who watched the first half of Season 3 with me and reflexively muttered, “So hot!” each time Geralt entered a room before wailing, “Whyyyy?“

Their grief is understandable. Cavill made Geralt’s longing, sense of empathy and humor tangible. Witchers are fabled stoics incorrectly believed to lack feelings, but the emotions governing Cavill’s Geralt emanate from him. He’s also easy on the eye, as Andrzej Sapkowski’s books establish and the CD Projekt Red video games illustrate. Cavill is pretty, but before the show was a twinkle on Netflix’s balance sheet, the game’s architects programmed Geralt’s digital incarnation into a fetching arrangement of ones and zeros that, in this writer’s opinion, is better looking.

So when Cavill announced he was leaving the series in October 2022, what could his stans do besides mourn?

Lash out at Netflix for casting Liam Hemsworth to replace him, apparently.

Liam Hemsworth attends the Australian Premiere of Poker Face at Hoyts Entertainment Quarter on November 15, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images)

Everybody needs a hobby, but this one doesn’t make sense.

Let me be clear: I don’t feel one way or another about Hemsworth, in the same way I didn’t feel strongly for or opposed to Cavill when he was cast. I may take all of this back one day. No previews of Hemsworth’s performance are available to evaluate, which means that there is no indication that he isn’t an adequate successor and little reason to believe he won’t succeed at making Geralt of Rivia his own.

History, as it pertains to the actor, the medium, and the show, favors Hemsworth’s success.

Recasting a main star of a TV series is rare but not unheard of

The most classic examples are co-stars: Dick Sargent replacing Dick York as Darrin Stephens on “Bewitched,” the controversial Aunt Viv switcheroo on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and revolving Becky Conners on “Roseanne” come to mind.

“Game of Thrones” also employed multiple mid-game substitutions while the series progressed, the most noticeable being Ed Skrein‘s brief time as Daenerys Targaryen’s sellsword lover Daario Naharis. He was let go in favor of Michiel Huisman taking the role. But they were players in a large ensemble. Cavill is the face of “The Witcher.”

Cavill’s extraordinary passion for the games led him to campaign to play Geralt in the first place, winning some trust with that crowd when Netflix announced his casting. But he is also one custodian of a piece of IP designed to outlive the whims of one man. The actor received another reminder of this when DC Studios announced his time as Superman was over shortly after he retired as “The Witcher.” The new regime under James Gunn tapped David Corenswet to star in “Superman: Legacy,” due in 2024.

Shows like “The Witcher” are made in the writing, not reliant on the performer

The lengthy pop culture legacy of “Superman” is a prime example. People swore there would never be another actor worthy of Christopher Reeve’s performance . . . until Dean Cain won over the TV audience in “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” back in the ’90s. Then came Tom Welling as teenage Clark Kent in “Smallville” and Brandon Routh donning the cape and tights before Cavill’s big screen debut in the role in 2013’s “Man of Steel.”  Currently Tyler Hoechlin plays Clark Kent The CW’s “Superman & Lois.”

Reeve did not originate the role for the big screen. He came after Kirk Alyn and George Reeves, the first actor to play the hero on TV. Nevertheless, modern filmgoers and TV viewers consider Christopher Reeve to be the blueprint, the same way Cavill established a take on the character that’s destined to guide Hemsworth. He says as much in his Instagram post where he thanks Cavill and introduces himself to “The Witcher” viewership. A noble gesture albeit one that was, shall we say, insufficiently appreciated.

The Witcher (Susan Allnut/Netflix)

People forget that Liam Hemsworth was almost Thor

Back in 2009 Kenneth Branagh asked Liam Hemsworth to test for the part that ultimately went to his brother Chris, who auditioned after he did. The two roles’ demands are similar — like Geralt, Thor is charismatic, determined, skilled with weaponry and tormented by his past just the right amount to make him attractive to people who like challenging fixer-uppers.

We will never know whether the world would have swooned as hard for Liam as it did for his older sibling. But if Branagh envisioned the youngest Hemsworth as the God of Thunder, why is it so tough to picture him as Geralt?

Millions of genre fans came of age watching Hemsworth play a guy who was famously friend-zoned

Hemsworth’s other best-known role is derived from another literary phenomenon’s adaptation, “The Hunger Games” trilogy. Hemsworth played Gale Hawthorne, loyal friend and hunting partner to Katniss Everdeen who transformed into something of a wet blanket. (He also turned up briefly in “The Expendables 2” as a sniper who was too good to live, and “Independence Day 2,” a terrible idea before he ever came aboard.)

Despite a bevy of naysayers’ loud doubts, the fandom isn’t universally against Hemsworth. When Netflix mounted a fake ad campaign where the sentence, “Yes, [Cavill]’s still Geralt in Season 3” was pretend-projected on buildings and landmarks around the world, Netflix’s marketing department was simultaneously criticized for its inappropriateness and celebrated for its alleged shadiness. “Not even Netflix is rooting for Liam Hemsworth, damn,” tweeted one user.

How quickly the social media masses forget relevant receipts that the Internet records for all time.

As a reminder, back in 2018 Netflix released a first look of Cavill from a makeup and costume test for “The Witcher.” Guess how the Internet reacted?

People loudly doubted Cavill could convincingly play Geralt 

In their defense – somewhat —  the flat, shake-and-bake wig atop Cavill’s clean-shaven mug did not inspire confidence.

But people in the comments didn’t entirely blame the costume.

“OMG, this looks really bad please tell me this is only a test where are the beard and scars that make him who he is. That wig looks so fake I really hope the voice is not s**t. This needs fixing a lot, and fire who is responsible for creating this Elf-looking thing,” one user helpfully offered.

“Do not approve, I believe this is not the right choice for so complex a character as Geralt . . . not the looks nor the acting prowess for him,” declared a second.

Another joke braided fantasy franchise streams: “Is Superman in the business of helping hobbits with their jewelry issues now?”

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People detest the idea of change until it is upon them, at which point they either refuse to get on board or, as if a more common tendency in most cases, they grow accustomed to the switch and roll with it. Netflix doesn’t release viewership data, but a few tea leaf readers view its drop from topping the streamer’s most popular TV show to third place a week after the first half of the new season released as a sign that the faithful is abandoning the “Witcher” ship.

Review aggregators that include audience ratings also reveal a telling mismatch between the critics’ average for the third season, which is high on Rotten Tomatoes, and the audience score, which sits around 33%. Reading some of those viewer reviews tells a common tale that doesn’t have anything to do with Hemsworth’s impending arrival or Cavill’s departure but, instead, reveals the common one-two punch that fuels review bombing: misogyny and homophobia.

Series creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich mapped out a seven-season arc for “The Witcher,” so it’s possible that Hemsworth may end up playing Geralt over a longer period than Cavill did. For its part Netflix has tossed a coin to “The Witcher” through Season 5, ensuring that Hemsworth will be traveling the Continent with Ciri (Freya Allan), Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) and Jaskier for at least two more seasons.

In the meantime Cavill is returning to his gaming roots to star in and produce a live-action version of “Warhammer” for Amazon. Surely there are factions of that game’s fandom that despise this news with every cell of their being. With or without their support he’ll carry that franchise’s banner confidently. He already knows how to turn skeptics into believers, experience that Hemsworth may gain someday soon.

The first five episodes of Season 3 of “The Witcher” are streaming on Netflix. The second half of the season premieres Thursday, July 27.