The Witcher Season 4: Liam Hemsworth Forges a New Geralt Instead of Copying Henry Cavill

Geralt is riding back into your queue with a new face. Netflix has locked in October 30 for The Witcher season 4, the first with Liam Hemsworth swinging the silver sword after Henry Cavill. Season 4 wrapped a while ago, season 5 will end the series, and yet the franchise might not be as done as it looked a few months back.

So, where does The Witcher universe stand?

Netflix spent years building this thing into a full-blown fantasy ecosystem: the anime films The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf and The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, the prequel mini The Witcher: Blood Origin, and a handful of other spin-offs in development. Then the brakes screeched. Netflix announced season 5 will be the last, a kid-focused series was shelved, and the spin-off The Rats was reportedly canned too.

Now comes the twist: The Rats is rumored to be coming back from the dead as a feature film. On top of that, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is hinting there could be more spin-offs after the main show bows out. Translation: the Continent might stick around even after the flagship wraps.

Season 4: what to expect and when to watch

Season 4 hits October 30. The show is still the same thorny, monster-hunting saga about fate and family, set on the Continent where humans, elves, witchers, gnomes, and a rotating cast of nightmares all try to survive without clean lines between good and evil.

Story-wise, season 3 ends with big, Continent-shaking fallout. Season 4 picks up with Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri separated and trekking across a war-torn land. Each falls in with their own band of misfits, and if they can step up and lead, they might survive a 'baptism of fire' and actually find each other again.

The cast rolling into season 4

• Liam Hemsworth steps in as Geralt of Rivia
• Returning: Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan
• New faces: Laurence Fishburne, Sharlto Copley, James Purefoy, Danny Woodburn, Linden Porco, Eve Ridley, and Clive Russell

Posters, games, and how Hemsworth is tackling Geralt

Netflix dropped a fresh batch of character posters, debuted by IGN, who also sat down with Hemsworth. He was already a Witcher gamer before the offer came in and calls The Witcher 3 one of the best games ever. After he got the call, he dove into the Netflix series and Andrzej Sapkowski's books to calibrate his take.

His priority was not doing a beat-for-beat reboot of Cavill's performance. He and the writers nod to a few early Geralt trademarks so the handoff feels organic, then they push forward.

"I didn't want to directly try to redo anything that he'd done... We tied a few earlier things to the start of my run as a way of saying, 'Here's my version,' and then we move forward."

Once he understood where Cavill left Geralt and where season 4 picks him up, Hemsworth says it became about being present scene to scene and tracking Geralt's motivation from here on out.

A different shade of the White Wolf

Hemsworth and Hissrich both say this Geralt opens up more than we've seen. He is still gruff, but a little more talkative, with a dry wit and the occasional cheeky smile. Emotionally, he is in a raw spot: wounded, doubting himself, and worried he might not be strong enough to save Ciri if he finds her.

"My read is that Geralt is deeply empathetic. He has lived an isolated life and keeps the walls up, except with people like Ciri, Yen, and Jaskier. Right now he is struggling. He is injured and unsure he can save Ciri. Leaning on his chosen family is what gives him the courage and strength to keep going."

The bottom line

Season 4 is locked for October 30, season 5 will end the main series, but there is chatter about more spin-offs down the line and The Rats may resurface as a movie. In the meantime, we are about to see how Hemsworth carries the swords. Curious to see his Geralt? The new character posters rolled out via IGN, and the wait for the new season is almost over.