Fans aren’t letting Netflix recast Geralt of Rivia without a fight. Recently, it was announced that The Witcher had been renewed ahead of its upcoming third season, but with season 4 comes a catch. Henry Cavill is exiting the series after season 3 Liam Hemsworth set to take over the role of Geralt starting with season 4. While Hemsworth might be a fine actor, the news of the recasting was met with immense backlash from fans who just aren’t willing to accept anyone other than Cavill in the role.

Soon after the casting change was announced, a petition was launched to convince Netflix to do whatever it takes to get Cavill back on board. In a matter of days, the petition, which you can find at Change.org, has officially surpassed the 100,000 mark. It’s at 112,000 as of this writing, but with multiple new names getting added every minute, we expect that number to continue to rapidly rise.

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The petition description reads in part: “Let us show them in pure numbers (and thus lost money, because that’s all they really care about) that none of us Witcher fans will stand with them and will abandon the show (and potentially our subscriptions) after The Witcher season 3 is concluded. Netflix can only exist because all of us pay them monthly to produce content that is entertaining for us, unfortunately all public information points towards a production team making decisions that are completely opposite to the fans’ - our - interests.”

What Happened With The Witcher and Henry Cavill?

     Netflix

While fans have their theories, it’s not exactly clear why Henry Cavill is leaving The Witcher. Many have suggested that it’s because he’s heading to the DCU to reprise his Man of Steel role as Superman for many upcoming movies. Other fans have theorized that Cavill is leaving because he’s unhappy with the show’s creative direction. Lending some credence to the latter theory is comments made by Cavill last year that suggested he’d be sticking around for years to come as long as the series did not dip in quality.

“Absolutely,” Cavill told THR in 2021 when asked if he’d potentially be up for starring in The Witcher for seven seasons. “As long as we can keep telling great stories which honor Sapkowski’s work.”

Cavill refers to author Andrzej Sapkowski, who wrote the original books that The Witcher is based on. Sapkowski had also previously endorsed Cavill in the role, even noting that he’d forever represent Geralt.

“I was more than happy with Henry Cavill’s appearance as The Witcher," Sapkowski told People. “He’s a real professional. Just as Viggo Mortensen gave his face to Aragorn, so Henry gave his to Geralt and it shall be forever so.”

Season 3 of The Witcher will arrive in 2023. It’s unclear when fans can expect season 4 with Liam Hemsworth.