Liam Hemsworth Finally Fixes The One Mistake Henry Cavill Kept Making In The Witcher Season 4
Henry Cavill’s exit had Witcher fans bracing for disappointment, but Season 4 sees Liam Hemsworth unsheathe a gritty, battle-hardened Geralt that’s winning over skeptics.
So, The Witcher Season 4 finally showed up with Liam Hemsworth under the wig, and here is the twist I did not see coming: a lot of fans think he fixed one of the show’s oldest problems. Not the monsters, not the timelines — Geralt’s actual friendship with Jaskier.
The big surprise: Geralt and Jaskier finally feel like brothers
When Henry Cavill left, people mourned. When Hemsworth was announced, people doubted. But after Season 4 hit Netflix, the chatter on X flipped fast. Viewers are calling out how this Geralt actually treats Jaskier like the partner-in-crime he is in the books — warm, loyal, and yes, occasionally sappy in a grumpy-witcher way. Compared to earlier seasons, where Cavill’s Geralt often came off curt or flat-out dismissive, Hemsworth’s version checks in on him, backs him up, and lets their banter have some actual heart behind it. One fan even joked it took four seasons and a whole new Geralt to get their dynamic right. Not wrong.
Why Cavill’s Geralt kept Jaskier at arm’s length
This is not some mystery retcon. Cavill explained the choice years ago. Back in 2019, he told THR that the adaptation simply did not hand him a lot of space to play the book-accurate closeness early on. In his view, Joey Batey’s Jaskier was not positioned as an immediate central player in the narrative at first, which nudged their on-screen dynamic toward contrast rather than closeness. He also argued that playing their bond exactly like the novels would have flattened the tension — his Geralt cared, but he showed it in small, guarded ways instead of overt warmth. Whether that worked for you probably depends on how married you are to the book vibe.
How Hemsworth and Batey clicked off camera
The smoother chemistry this season is not an accident. Joey Batey told SFX Magazine (via CinemaBlend) the cast made a point of rolling out the welcome mat for Hemsworth the second he arrived, which turned into a real-life rapport they could channel on screen.
"Every time a new person comes to the show, our job is to almost overwhelmingly welcome them. We’re quite fervent about it. There’s lots of hugging. There’s lots of, 'Come here, we’re going for a quick pint.' We all did that with Liam. We all just went, 'Okay, you’re part of the gang now.'"
That off-screen comfort bleeds into Season 4: the jokes land, the loyalty feels earned, and the two of them finally resemble the brothers-in-arms fans have been waiting to see.
Quick facts
- Show: The Witcher
- Creator: Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
- Seasons so far: 4
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 74%
- Where to watch: Netflix (currently streaming in the US)
The bottom line
Season 4 does not just survive the recast — it uses it. Hemsworth’s Geralt plays the friendship with Jaskier closer to the books without losing the edge. And judging by the fan reaction, that shift might be the smartest move the show has made in a while. What do you think: did Hemsworth stick the landing as Geralt, or are you still Team Cavill no matter what?