Why Liam Hemsworth is replacing Henry Cavill on 'The Witcher'

MANILA, Philippines — Fans of Netflix's fantasy series "The Witcher" were taken aback upon the announcement that Liam Hemsworth would be replacing Henry Cavill in the show's lead role of Geralt of Rivia, prompting theories why Cavill left the project.

The biggest speculation is creative differences between the producers and Cavill, who is a fan of the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski and the video games that the show is based on.

Cavill was said to have not be "seeing eye-to-eye" with the producers and was not satisfied with the direction "The Witcher" was headed for, according to reports by Redanian Intelligence, especially as he wanted to portray a more book-accurate version of Geralt.

The recasting comes at the same time that Cavill himself confirmed he would be returning to reprise the role Superman in a future project after appearing in the post-credits scene of "Black Adam."

Actor Dwayne Johnson lobbied hard to Warner Bros. to bring Cavill back as Superman, finally succeeding when new management took over the embroiled studio.

Related: Liam Hemsworth replaces Henry Cavill in 'The Witcher'

Cavill is also a frontrunner among actors expected to be the next James Bond after Daniel Craig; Cavill had auditoned for 2006's "Casino Royale" when he was 25 years old, but filmmakers went with Craig instead for five films.

Other actors being eyed to play James Bond are Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, Richard Madden, Idris Elba, Jamie Dornan, Rege-Jean Page, Henry Golding, Aidan Turner, and Lashanna Lynch who appeared in "No Time to Die."

Reports say that Hemsworth was an early favorite among the primary auditions for Geralt back in 2018 before Cavill was ultimately selected.

As such, producers opted not to hold new auditions for Cavill's replacement during the filming of the show's third season and instead referred to past auditions where Hemsworth again stood out.

However — with no offense meant toward Hemsworth — fans did not take to the recasting likely, instead calling for Netflix to keep Cavill and just replace the show writers instead, or to even cancel the "The Witcher" entirely.

The third season of "The Witcher" is currently in post-production and will be the last one starring Cavill; Hemsworth will take over for the fourth and fifth seasons, which will be filmed back-to-back.

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