By Three years ago it was announced that Henry Cavill was leaving Netflix’s The Witcher and Liam Hemsworth was stepping in as Geralt of Rivia. Now that the new season with Liam is almost upon us, showrunner Lauren Hissrich finally explained what happened.
Henry Cavill had plans for other roles
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich explained that conversations about Henry Cavill leaving were going on “for a while” before it finally happened.
She went on to say: “He had plans for other roles that he really wanted to commit himself to. And for us, you don’t want to hold someone and force them to be doing something that they don’t want to do. I think that’s why it felt like a really symbiotic decision.“
Regarding creative differences, Lauren is quoted in the interview saying that that phrase can mean anything these days.
Those “other roles” Hissrich was referring to was likely Superman, that didn’t end up happening and Amazon’s Warhammer 40K series that’s currently in development and making progress.
Lauren’s words mirror what Cavill himself said days before the recasting announcement, regarding the importance of having belief in what you’re doing career-wise and the importance of stopping when you believe what you’re doing is wrong. That was likely referring to what was going to be announced soon after.
“It’s just about belief. If you believe what you’re doing then you’ll be able to keep on doing it. It’s also important to know that if you realize you’re doing the wrong thing, that’s when you stop doing the wrong thing. You don’t just keep on going just because. Because that leads down a dark path.“
Why Vesemir was recast as well
Recently we revealed that Peter Mullan was going to replace Kim Bodnia as Vesemir. Hissrich also addressed that the recast happened because of Kim Bodnia’s schedule with the F1 movie:
“I spoke to Kim about it and he was devastated. He loved playing Vesemir. Also, F1’s a big movie, so I understand that they could not necessarily work around our schedule. So Peter came in, and what I think is always great when really seasoned actors come in and they know they’re replacing someone is, ‘What do you want me to carry over? What do you want me to bring new?’ Kim has a very distinctive accent. [Mullan] had listened to that accent. He had said, ‘How do I change my accent to make this a little bit more like his?’ Utter professional.“
Lauren also spoke why Vesemir is returning in the first place: “Honestly, we didn’t think we would see him again after that season. Then in the writers’ room, it’s like, ‘Well, wait, what if we start to bring the Witchers back in because there’s some future events that we know we want Vesemir for in the series?”
The Witcher Season 5 is in post-production for a 2026 release. Andrzej Sapkowski’s new Witcher book Crossroads of Ravens is available internationally since September 30, 2025. CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 4 is now in full production.
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