It’s never easy replacing a well-established performer in a major role, and the braintrust behind “The Witcher” learned that the hard way when Henry Cavill left the series to pursue other projects. Want to know why Season 4 of “The Witcher” was such a flop? Watch our video above for all of the details.
The biggest problem with the latest season of “The Witcher” is blatant — with two seasons left to go, the show inserted Liam Hemsworth as the new Witcher. Hemsworth is charming in his own right, forever having public goodwill thanks to his work as Gale in “The Hunger Games” franchise, but his take lacks Cavill’s natural swagger. He’s talented, sure, but it’s hard to ignore his weaknesses whenever he’s onscreen as Geralt. Episode recaps haven’t helped to paper over the problem, with the insertion of Hemsworth into scenes Cavill previously shot making their differences even more apparent.
The season also suffers from the fact that Ciri (Freya Allan), Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and Geralt spend way too much time apart and searching for one another. It takes several episodes for them to reunite — though those invested in all three getting back together will be heartily rewarded by the end of the season. Unfortunately, some fans and critics weren’t willing to wait that long.
Fans aren’t too keen on this new Geralt, either
Fans of “The Witcher” are less than thrilled with the results of Season 4. “No hate for Liam Hemsworth, but The Witcher is lifeless without Henry and the way they tried to rewrite the scenes with Liam is cringe enough to not continue,” said @thisweirdlife on X. Others weren’t willing to be quite that respectful, such as @SiSpang12 who called Hemsworth the “actual worst” before stating, “It’s like he’s never seen an episode or looked at any of the source material then went “I’m going to wing this while giving absolutely nothing”. Cavill had such an aura.”
But audiences weren’t the only ones left wondering if “The Witcher” should have ended after Season 3. Critics didn’t hold back their thoughts on Hemsworth’s portrayal, with The Times’ Nick Hilton saying of the actor in a two-star review that, “His Geralt lacks either the physicality or emotional gravitas of Cavill’s, and his thinner voice … accentuates this difference.” The Guardian’s Sarah Dempster was of a likewise mindset with the writer simply stating, “Hemsworth, bless his pleather britches, is no Henry Cavill” after insulting Hemsworth’s attempt at replicating Cavill’s distinct accent and mumbling.
Want to learn more about these blunders and formulate your own opinions on the fourth go-round of “The Witcher?” Click on our video above.