The Witcher’s much-discussed season 4 is now streaming on Netflix, and despite some lower audience scores right out of the gate, the season and the series have regained their footing on Netflix’s streaming chart. One of the biggest points of contention around the series is due to the departure of Henry Cavill, and while Liam Hemsworth has won over quite a few fans with his performance in season 4, Cavill’s departure still clearly came with a cost.
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The Witcher season 4 debuted on Netflix’s Top 10 shows chart with 7.4 million views and 53 million hours viewed, and that brings it much closer to Season 3 Part 2’s debut, which delivered 7.8 million views in its debut weekend and 59 million hours viewed. That said, it’s really when you look at season 3 Part 1’s debut numbers that you really start to see the impact, as Part 1 debuted with 15.2 million views and 73 million hours viewed.
Cavill departed the series after season 3 and has since joined up with two other big fantasy franchises, with one especially close to his heart in the Warhammer 40k project. He also returned to the role of Superman briefly in Black Adam, though that full return never materialized due to the massive overhaul of the DCU courtesy of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Cavill was always a Champion of the Witcher franchise coming into the show, so his departure was always going to have an impact, but in a recent interview ahead of season 4, showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich revealed that the show never really considered shutting down after his exit.
“We never really had serious conversations about the show not continuing,” Hissrich said. “The show is bigger than one actor. It’s bigger than me. There’s a book series, there’s a video game. We are the third entry into this. So The Witcher lives whether or not we go.”
As for why Cavill exited the series, Hissrich addressed that as well, saying, “He had plans for other roles that he really wanted to commit himself to. And for us, you don’t want to hold someone and force them to be doing something that they don’t want to do. I think that’s why it felt like a really symbiotic decision.”
It will be interesting to see how The Witcher season 5 fares in its reception now that season 4 has started to settle and the initial shock of Hemsworth taking over the role has faded. Season 5 will also be the series finale, and if you look at the events of the final books, there are some big things happening in those final season 5 episodes. Hopefully, that means the series will go out on a high note and close out the live-action series on the right foot.
All seasons of The Witcher are now streaming on Netflix, including season 4 and the prequel special The Rats. Season 5 is expected next year.
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