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.