Thousands Sign The Witcher Petition To Keep Cavill And Fire The Writers
It's becoming quite the sordid saga isn't it? While we'd all assumed Henry Cavill was all-in on the plan to play Geralt of Rivia for seven seasons of The Witcher - he said so himself - that's all changed with the fantasy epic's lead stepping aside.
Although The Witcher has been officially confirmed for Season 4, it comes with the added downside that Cavill won't be on board. Instead, the Man of Steel is being replaced by The Hunger Games' Liam Hemsworth. There's a lot of talk about why Cavill is leaving The Witcher, but forget that, furious fans are coming for blood.
What Is The Witcher Petition?
With Cavill's clear passion for the source material and a love for playing Geralt, there are rightly some raised eyebrows about why he'd step away from what's arguably his biggest role apart from playing Superman in the DCEU. There have been rumblings about behind-the-scenes drama, and with viewers demanding a sacrifice, the writers are on the chopping block.
There were recent reports from ex-producer Beau DeMayo that writers on The Witcher actively dislike Andrzej Sapkowski's books and CD Projekt Red's games of the same name. This remains unproven, however, there are other conspiracy theories that Cavill butted heads with showrunner Lauren Hissrich over Geralt's character development. He was something of an expert on the source material, and supporters think this caused friction between various parties.
Before either side can respond, an angry Change.org petition is calling for Cavill to be reinstated and the writers to be fired. At the time of writing, 17.5k wannabe Witchers have signed the petition. This call to action reads, "Let us show them in pure numbers (and thus lost money, because that’s all they really care about) that none of us Witcher fans will stand with them and will abandon the show (and potentially our subscriptions) after The Witcher season 3 is concluded."
Could Henry Cavill Return To The Witcher?
Sorry gang, it looks like this one is done. More than just announcing that Cavill will depart the role, and then searching for a new lead, the fact Hemsworth has been immediately confirmed suggests this has been in the works for a while. There doesn't seem to be much bad blood right now, with Cavill and Hemsworth patting each other on the back on social media.
Still, there are already "cursed" promos of Hemsworth doing the rounds online, as the furious fires of hate continue to burn. As the Change.org petition reminds us, Sapkowski once said, "As Viggo Mortensen gave his face to Aragorn, so Henry gave his to Geralt and it shall be forever so." Although the future of The Witcher remains uncertain among fandom, it definitely won't include Henry Cavill.
