It’s an interesting time to be a fan of The Witcher. CD Projekt Red is bringing back the franchise gaming-wise in multiple ways via a remake of the original game and a continuation of the franchise. Meanwhile, Netflix is continuing with its live-action adaptation of the books, and fans are curious about things will go down. Part 1 of Season 3 arrived on Netflix today, and the discourse about it has already begun. But even more than that, fans are curious about what will happen when the show tries to “seamlessly” transition the role of Geralt of Rivia from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth.
The former will no longer be Geralt by the end of the season, and the latter hasn’t been shown as Geralt in any way, and thus fans are curious about what will happen. In a chat with IGN, Joey Batey, who plays fan-favorite character Jaskier in the show, noted that despite Liam trying to fill some big shoes, the cast isn’t trying to “guide him” on what to do:
“We wouldn’t really give advice,” he admitted. “I think our job is to welcome him, as we would to any new cast member, is to say ‘Come on in, we know it’s a lot, it’s a lot, there’s a lot going on,’ and to listen and be patient and commit as hard as we have done this far.”
In a different interview with GamesRadar, he then noted that Liam is throwing himself into getting the shape he feels he needs to be Geralt. Furthermore, he’s reading the books so that he knows the lore and all that’s coming:
“We’ve been emailing, we’ve been exchanging our favorite quotes from the books and things like that,” Batey revealed. “I don’t think any of us are in the position to advise on playing Geralt, but he’s throwing himself into it. His training regime is insane, and he’s been devouring the books.”
That will excite fans because, if nothing else, he’s committed to trying to be the best version of Geralt possible. Many will still miss Henry Cavill as he brought a presence to the role that helped make The Witcher adaptation one of the biggest hits Netflix had ever seen at the time.
According to the directors, there will be a “meta” way for Geralt to transition from Cavill to Hemsworth and even said that this would be done in a way that ties into the lore of the books.
As for what they mean, we’ll have to wait and see.
