Nevertheless, in the aftermath of Cavill defecting The Witcher camp to dedicate more time to Superman, it’s become a bit more obvious why producers didn’t have much trouble finding his replacement. The other Hemsworth brother, more widely known for appearing in The Hunger Games franchise, will assume the role of Geralt of Rivia starting from season 4, with Cavill set to feature in the series’ upcoming third season scheduled for summer 2023.
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News of Hemsworth’s past auditions come courtesy of Redanian Intelligence, with sources not being able to corroborate whether the Australian actor was exactly the second favorite to become Geralt or just one of the other names that came close to getting the gig. Casting for The Witcher allegedly took place in 2018 and Hemsworth was a top contender who only lost out to Cavill out of pure preference for the English actor, however, those old audition tapes were in all likeliness considered when it was time for The Witcher to replace its star.
Hemsworth is not expected to start filming for The Witcher’s fourth season until mid-2023, at the very least, meaning he’ll have plenty of time to get in peak Geralt form and analyze what aspects of Cavill’s portrayal are kept around. Witcher fans haven’t taken the news of Cavill’s departure lightly, as there are ongoing online petitions asking for the actor to be reinstated in The Witcher and the showrunners to be fired instead.
Fan casting for The Witcher went really far back in 2017 when the show was first announced, as many posited actors like Mads Mikkelsen would also make for a fantastic Geralt or Vesemir, though in the end, Cavill ended up being one of the main draws for the show. It’s worth saying that the 32-year-old Hemsworth was only 28 at the time, so he is certainly a younger alternative to Cavill that could end up playing the role for longer if The Witcher can survive this painful recast.
Despite only last year stating he was willing to play Geralt for up to seven seasons, it’s widely believed Cavill’s love for The Witcher’s source material and creative differences with the creative team were partly at the root of his decision. In any case, fans of Netflix’s The Witcher can rest assured Hemsworth was always deemed to be a great Geralt.
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Source: Redanian Intelligence
