Henry Cavill’s departure fromThe Witcherwas partly instigated by the changes made by the production to the source material according to numerous reports. It is therefore a bit of a shame that the upcoming third season of the Netflix fantasy show will be the one that sticks closest to its source material. The previousseasons of the show deviated from the source materialto the point Cavill started working in actual unscripted dialogue that he took from Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, but this time around it seems that the novel Time of Contempt will provide almost the entire season’s story. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich addressed the new season while speaking toEntertainment Weekly, saying:
“What is so interesting is that season 3, to me, is the closest thing that we’ve done as a one-to-one adaptation of the books. Obviously, we can’t do every page, but Time of Contempt gave us so many big action events, plot points, defining character moments, huge reveals of a big bad. There’s so much to do that we were able to stick really, really closely with the books.”
For fans of Netflix’s iteration ofThe Witcher,season 3 will be the last timeHenry Cavillis seen in the lead role of Geralt, with the role being taken over by Liam Hemsworth from season 4. However, with a lot of unrest over the departure of Cavill still rumbling on, how future seasons, and indeed other spin-offs, will be welcomed could become a concern for Netflix and may lead to the series coming to a premature conclusion.
Related:The Witcher: Blood Origin’s Terrible Rotten Tomatoes Score Partly Caused by Review Bombing From Henry Cavill Fans
The Witcher: Blood Origin Saw A Lot of Fan Backlash
The Witcher: Blood Originhad the unfortunate timing of arriving on Netflix not too long after Henry Cavill’s decision to leave the main series was announced. This became partly the reason why the prequel series saw a lot of negative reviews and criticism from those how have no interest in watching a Witcher-based show that doesn’t have Cavill involved.
Of course,The Witcher: Blood Originis set many years before Geralt comes into the story, and for that reason Cavill was never part of the series. However, many reviews were quick to note their displeasure at how the actor had been pushed to the point of leaving his role due to the creative team’s choices more than leaving actual reviews ofBlood Originitself. That said, there have also been a number of complaints about the writing, particularly dialogue, that has come to be a frequent point of contention across shows in the fantasy genre, including Prime Video’sThe Rings of Powerand Disney+ seriesWillow.
While none of this will stop Netflixcontinuing to put out Witcher content for at least the next few years, with plans to split Cavill’s final season into two parts already being hinted at, and Hemsworth’s take over already being green-lit. While additional standalone series have also been discussed, the viewership of the coming seasons will eventually determine the fate ofThe Witcher.
