The Witcher Showrunner Breaks Silence on Backlash to Henry Cavill Recasting

By Nathaniel Brail

In late October it was revealed that Henry Cavill would be returning as Superman during the post-credits scene for the Dwayne Johnson-led Black Adam. A few days after the film hit theaters Cavill broke his silence on his return and also hinted at his future as the character. It was also announced that the actor would exit Netflix's The Witcher series and Liam Hemsworth would take over the Geralt of Riva role. With all major changes there's sure to be some fan backlash and it happened in a big way. Cavill and Hemsworth have been supportive of each other during the transition and we still have one more season with the former in the leading role. Now, The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich is breaking her silence on the backlash.

"It's a big deal for us, too," Hissrich told TechRadar. "And that's the thing – there's a lot of talk and rumors about and we fully understand why fans are going there. What I will say is please come back for The Witcher season three so that we can continue to do this. Obviously, that [Cavill's departure] is huge news. But what I don't want to do is – this has to stay about Blood Origin, Declan [de Barra, Blood Origin's showrunner], the cast, and the crew. This is their time in the spotlight."

There has been no official word on why the actor exited his Geralt of Riva role, but the main consensus is that he left to play Superman in the DC Universe for the foreseeable future. Cavill recently broke his silence on his Superman return during Black Adam and he revealed that it was a top moment of his career.

"Well, I was on Witcher and I got the call saying 'Hey, this is happening, when can you do it?' I was like, 'I'm working six day weeks, I don't know when I can do this," Cavill said of the opportunity. "They said, 'We've got these dates.' And I said, 'Okay, I'll come in and do it.' We had to get clearance from Witcher production but it was so top secret we couldn't tell them what, we just said, 'Hey there's this thing I've got to do, can you clear me for it.' I don't know whether anyone suspected or not because there was all the talk about Comic-Con at the time as well. So I went to Warner Bros. Studios in the UK, on a super secret set. All whispers and capes, everything all hidden, and got back into the suit." 

"It was a very powerful moment for me," he continued. "I wasn't too sure how it's going to feel, whether it's going to be 'cool, back in the suit;' or whether it was going to be something which was very emotionally connective because I put the Man of Steel suit back on. I chose that one in particular because of the nostalgia attached to the suit, and it was incredibly important to me to just be standing and enjoying that moment. Yeah, that is one of the top moments in my career. It feels great to have the opportunity to wear it again."

While nothing official has been announced yet, there are reports that writers have been pitching a Man of Steel sequel for the actor to star in. Executives at Warner Bros.  Discovery reportedly want more focus on Superman going forward, and they just hired the duo of James Gunn and Peter Safran to spearhead the DC franchise. There was also a major report from The Wrap that claims that fans shouldn't get to excited as Henry Cavill hasn't signed a new contract to return as Superman.

What do you think about the recasting? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!

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