Over the weekend, Netflix confirmed that Henry Cavill will leave The Witcher, and the role of Geralt of Rivia, after the show's upcoming third season. The news has not received a positive response online, and the news that The Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth will take over the role has done little to calm fans down.
Both actors released statements praising each other, but we now have comments from one of The Witcher's executive producers. Taking to Facebook shortly after the news broke, Tomasz "Tomek" Bagiński compared Geralt to James Bond.
"I realize yesterday's announcement shocked at least as much as Elon's takeover of Twitter, but the world survived not such surprises," he said of the casting change. "The Witcher can make it. The third season is very strong. There are only a few years until the fourth."
"Bond and Batman discover something new and interesting with each change of appearance. We have the time. Geralt is in the same league."
Needless to say, there's been a lot of speculation online about what might have led to Cavill leaving The Witcher. However, the truth may have been hiding in plain sight this whole time.
As you can see below, the Superman actor has said in previous interviews that he was committed to the show's seven-season plan. A self-confessed fan of Andrzej Sapkowski's novels and the games based on them, Cavill has also made it clear he wants to stay loyal to the source material. Unfortunately, it's become apparent The Witcher's creative team doesn't exactly feel the same way.
We've had new villains, massive story changes, and even comments from a writer on the show who has said his fellow scribes actively disliked the books and games.
As a result, while it's easy to blame Cavill's departure on him recently being enlisted to play the Man of Steel again, it seems likely he had fundamental issues with how The Witcher has progressed.