The Witcher Fans Can't Handle Rience Looking Differently After Recasting
Fans are still not over Rience's new look.
Despite being one of the most popular fantasy shows out there today, Netflix's The Witcher has also been one of the most divisive projects in the streaming giant's catalogue. Since its premiere in 2019, the Henry Cavill-led show has faced numerous attacks from fans of the original books and video games.
Many complained about the way Netflix treated the source material, pointing to Cavill's performance as Geralt as the only reason they kept watching the show. Now that Cavil is leaving after the current third season to be replaced by Liam Hemsworth in the role, some fans claim the show is beyond saving.
And while many had expected the current season to be the last 'proper' Witcher instalment, it seems the producers have managed to ruin that. The biggest issue for many fans has been the recasting of Rience, a key villain of the series, which resulted in the character looking so camp, it's cringe.
Before Season 3, Rience was played by Chris Fulton, and the evil wizard looked incredible. Fulton's menacing performance and horrific facial scars made Rience a walking-talking nightmare. Then in Season 3, fans were shocked to see a completely different actor playing the role, with completely different and hopelessly subpar makeup. Sam Woolf, the new actor cast in the role, is more than capable of delivering a solid performance as Rience. The problem is that, for some mysterious reason, the evil wizard's facial scars now look so cheap that fans can't bring themselves to look at them.
'I don't have an issue with recasting. But the makeup/prosthetics and lighting are terrible in this scene. He looks so fake here compared to his menacing looks in S2,' a fan argued.
Furthermore, ever since Netflix dropped the first batch of Season 3 episodes last month, people have been complaining that Rience's new and inferior look is not even the biggest issue with the new season: it's got poor quality CGI, the acting is generally worse, and the writing feels even less refined than it once was.
'If you mean the prosthetic on his face then yeah, they are bad but literally everything looks worse this year. The VFX, the makeup... All of it,' another fan said.
The second part of The Witcher Season 3 will be released on Netflix on 27 July 2023.
Source: Reddit.