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The Witcherdrama that began with last year’s October 30th announcement on Henry Cavill’s Instagram has yet to die down. The actor, then soaring on the DCBlack Adampremiere and his Superman comeback found sympathy with his expansive fandom and their immediate inclination to find the writers guilty of the apparent tragedy. Losing one of the most treasured actors of the epic fantasy genre was an unforeseen event and one that did not make the cards for anyone when 2022 began.
But the announcement was soon to be followed by discursive debates ranging from Cavill’s aversion to the diversion of the series from the source to the lead actor’s toxic behavior on the sets ofThe Witcher.
Also read:‘He didn’t want to be seen as a piece of meat’: Henry Cavill Reportedly ‘Refused To Do All Shirtless and Romantic Scenes’ inThe Witcheras It Wasn’t Part of Source Material
Henry Cavill’sWitcherExit Finds New Cause to Rally Behind
In late 2022, a leaked transcript from theDeux Upodcast found Henry Cavill’s love for gaming a serious problem that extended to his behavior toward women on set and affected the smooth functioning of productions. Cavill’s devotion to gaming and novels had in a large part provided him with the drive to advocate forThe Witcherand his intrinsic knowledge of the show has led to him being dubbed as a walking encyclopedia.
But the leaks did the job well by raising flags all over social media, which could have been why the podcast transcript was released in the first place – to initiate a conversation into Henry Cavill’s alleged problematic traits. People, however, criticized the claims about Cavill’s gaming addiction and his “game bro language” creating a toxic workspace on set, especially since the actor has been very vocal about his love for literature and gaming from the get-go and has attributed these genres as a major passion of his, not a poorly kept secret.
Also read:‘Henry Cavill has done a phenomenal job at setting the right foundation’:The WitcherStar Credits All Success Netflix Show Gets Now, Despite Liam Hemsworth Recast, To Cavill
The transcript in a major part works to reveal the insider’s aversion to the gaming community and a disregard for those who are invested in the genre when claims were made that Cavill’s “obsessive” behavior made it seem like “working with any other addict.” But these claims were never backed up by the show’s cast and crew or production and were hence eventually disregarded.
A YouTuber has recently pointed out that the reason behind Cavill’s exit was the writers’ hatred for the game and the belief that the show would deviate massively from the source material in the coming seasons. Season 2 was already received poorly by critics and viewers alike, and it was traced back to the writers creating entirely new arcs and badly motivated villains that never existed in the original Sapkowski mythology.
WitcherFans Back Henry Cavill, Writers Become Scapegoats
It’s not news that the writers involved with the corpus of the live-action Netflix adaptation ofThe Witcherhad a massive role to play in what went down in October 2022. When Henry Cavill quit the sets of the epic fantasy series, not a moment passed ever since without the fandom and critics not holding the writers accountable for the actor’s decision. The series, which premiered in 2019, was an instant hit but its follow-up season failed to live up to the reputation of the literature as well the debut due to the radical shift away from the source material.
The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich said this about Cavill’s departure in an interview with Total Film Magazine (ViaRedanian Intelligence):
“It was time for him in his life to move on. I think we’ve all been mourning this in our own way. We had the choice to have Geralt exit and to end the show. [But] that’s not something that we were willing to do. There’s just too many stories left to tell.”
Also read:Henry Cavill Reportedly MadeThe WitcherWriting Staff His Sworn Enemy, Netflix Couldn’t Handle Cavill’s Undying Devotion to the Source Material
At the time, reports that originated from Beau DeMayo, known forThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf(2021), and his claims that the show’s writers“actively disliked”the Andrzej Sapkowski books contributed in major part to the fan outcries about the removal of the writers and retrieval of Henry Cavill. The claims have since been rebutted by the series showrunner and there have been no further statements regarding what went down behind the scenes ofThe Witcherset since the lead actor’s exit.
The Witcheris now streaming on Netflix.
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2407
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
