Witcher Will Use The Books to Set Up Geralt Being Recast As Liam Hemsworth
Looks like the writers decided to write in a lore-accurate explanation.
Recasting a protagonist in a movie or TV series is always a risky business. And there are even more risks when the creators try to explain the recasting from a story perspective.
Last October, it was reported that the two-part Season 3 of The Witcher, the first of which was released today, would be the last for Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia. The actor will be replaced by Liam Hemsworth beginning with Season 4, and according to one of the show's executive producers, the changes will be 'flawless.'
Polish animator and producer Tomasz Bagiński, who serves as executive producer on the show and once worked with CD Project, creating cinematics for video game adaptations of The Witcher, recently shared his excitement about how the series will handle Hemsworth's arrival in Season 4.
'We have a very, very good plan to introduce our new Geralt and our new vision for Geralt with Liam,' Bagiński shared. 'Not going deeply into those ideas because this will be a huge spoiler, [but] it's also very, very close to the meta ideas which are deeply embedded in the books, especially in book five.'
What are these 'meta ideas' if not Jaskier's fourth-wall-breaking jokes? Bagiński is talking about the fifth installment of Andrzej Sapkowski's book series, and depending on whether he's referring to the whole series or the main saga, there could be two possibilities.
If the first is true, Bagiński is referring to the book Baptism of Fire, on which Season 4 with Hemsworth will primarily be based. At the beginning of the book, the wounded Geralt finds himself in Brokilon Forest with the Dryads, who treat him with natural magic. Perhaps their charms serve as a kind of 'mutagen' that affects the character's appearance in the show.
Alternatively, if the producer was talking about the main saga, the show may explain the changes using the alternate realities Ciri discovers at the end of The Tower of the Swallow. Except that these are parallel worlds, not 'multiverse' as in Marvel — so the writers have to be careful with the plot in this case.
'It's very close to what was set out in the books, and I think this change will be quite flawless,' Bagiński concluded.
Whichever way the creators choose to go, they will definitely have to try hard to appease the worried fans, as people aren't even sure if The Witcher can go on much further without Cavill on board.
The first half of Season 3 was released on June 29, and the second half will be available on July 27, 2023.
Source: Yahoo! News.