A massive number of fans were sad when Henry Cavill announced his sudden departure from The Witcher series. Many fans crowned the Netflix show, based on Andrej Sapkowski’s book series to be another Game of Thrones. However, the show was embroiled in controversies when the makers deviated from the source material and wanted to have their take.
Although it is never confirmed why Cavill left the show, the deviation is said to be one of the potential reasons as Henry Cavill was a giant fan of Sapkowski’s books and the games. It is reported that the ex-Superman fame left the show due to creative differences.
The Man of Steel star has often spoken about The Witcher and how he is one of the biggest fans of the IP. He read all the books, played every game, and understood Geralt of Rivia better than anyone else. The fans were sure that the Netflix show would successfully establish the actor as a major icon, which Superman actor failed to do.
Why was The Witcher series getting hard for Henry Cavill?
The ardent fans know that Henry Cavill was very passionate about The Witcher. The books and the games were very close to him and he openly said how he volunteered for the series himself. It was a dream role for him and it was evident when the show created a massive buzz after being released on Netflix.
The entire world of pop culture was shocked when it was announced that Liam Hemsworth would take over the medallion from Cavill from Season 4. Nobody was ready for such an update and the show received an intense backlash.
As reported by Philstar, Henry Cavill tried hard to keep the show as close to the source media as he could. However, Season 2 deviated to a large extent and made it tough for the star to find a balance. Even after that, the 40-year-old tried hard to maintain it before finally making his departure.
“The toughest part for me was finding that balance between the showrunners’ vision and my love for the books, and trying to bring that Geralt to the showrunners’ vision. It’s about treading a fine line there. It’s the showrunners’ story and so it’s an adaptation. The tricky bit for me was finding Geralt from the books’ place within that and being able to serve both as much as I could.”
It was a very hard time for the Cavill fans who had to bid farewell to the star from both Superman and The Witcher in a short gap. But it can’t be denied that the Netflix show has also faced an intense backlash following the exit of Henry Cavill and the viewership has also declined significantly.
Henry Cavill is Andrej Sapkowski’s favorite
Not only the fans but even the creator of The Witcher accepted that nobody could be a more perfect Geralt than Henry Cavill. During an interview with Beyond Pixels in German (via Redanian Intelligence), Andrej Sapkowski confessed that he has seen better and worse adaptations but Henry Cavill’s portrayal is his favorite.
Andrej Sapkowski admitted that whenever he imagines his book, it is the Argylle star’s voice that comes to his mind.
“I repeat, there are only letters [in my books]. But then I also saw the series from Netflix and I would say the voice of Cavill, that’s right for me. So my own idea of Geralt’s voice, that would be Cavill.”
In another interview, Sapkowski also said that Cavill gave a distinct identity to Geralt of Rivia, in a similar fashion to what Viggo Mortensen did to Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. The author is also set to release a new standalone Witcher book very soon.