Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Henry Cavill decided to leave one of the biggest franchises in the world because it was simply too exhausting, according to a director who worked with the Superman star.
Not that long ago, Henry Cavill was in an enviable place in Hollywood: he was the official Superman of the DC Extended Universe, he appeared alongside Tom Cruise in one of the most highly-acclaimed Mission: Impossible movies, and he was the star of a huge Netflix series.
However, in shockingly short order, Henry Cavill was passively removed from James Gunn’s new vision of the DC Universe, and he left The Witcher, the grim fantasy series based on novels by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski.
It is pretty rare that one actor can leave two mega-franchises at the same time, but according to one of the directors of The Witcher, he had a good reason.
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Henry Cavill and ‘The Witcher’ Working Schedule
According to director Marc Jobst, the primary reason for Henry Cavill leaving The Witcher was the arduous working schedule, which was exacerbated by the former DCEU’s refusal to cut any corners during production.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Marc Jobst says, “Henry has done three series, these are demanding shows to make, you know, they are huge. Henry does every single beat of his stunts, he won’t even allow a hand, if you’re doing a close up of a hand grabbing a sword, it has to be his hand. So, normally, what you do is you bring in a double, Henry will go off and shoot some other scene in which he’s in somewhere else, and you get somebody else into the hand, so that you don’t have to bother your number one.”
However, it appears that the former Geralt of Rivia was not into that, with Jobst continuing, “Henry won’t do that, and as a result of that, the results are extraordinary. You’re working with an incredible athlete, first and foremost, who works out hours before, and hours after, you’ve been shooting for 12 hours, and who cares deeply about the work that he does.”
Ultimately, Marc Jobst says that, “That’s draining on your number one, so after three series, I feel, “Okay, he’s brought the show into being, and if he feels like he’s done what he can, I trust him.” That focus that he has, that desire to get it right, is a gift to work with, because it elevates everybody to say, “Good enough isn’t good enough. It’s got to be fantastic.”
‘The Witcher’ Season 4
After Henry Cavill announced his departure from the series after season 3, Netflix announced that it would continue the series with Liam Hemsworth replacing the actor.
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It is understandable that Netflix would not want to give up a cash cow like The Witcher, particularly as it is about to lose Stranger Things, its other huge speculative fiction series. It will remain to be seen how fans respond to a season of the show with Liam Hemsworth, with producers speculating that the role could even be recast indefinitely, like James Bond.
Now that Henry Cavill is done with The Witcher season 3 and had his presumed last appearance in Black Adam (2022) as Superman (or is it?), he presumably has a lot more time on his hands. We’ll have to see what he does with it.
Will you watch The Witcher without Henry Cavill? Let us know in the comments below!