Henry Cavill's Insights On The Witcher's Changes To Source Material

Netflix’s The Witcher has made various changes to its source material, and Henry Cavill’s feelings about these changes are eye-opening. Netflix has a wide variety of original TV shows, some of which already rank among the best TV shows of all time, and it has some popular titles in its fantasy branch.

Among them is The Witcher, an adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel series of the same name. The Witcher debuted on Netflix in 2019 to great success, and one of its most praised elements was Henry Cavill’s portrayal of Geralt of Rivia. Unfortunately, season 2 marked the beginning of The Witcher’s end, and its problems only grew when Cavill left the show after season 3.

Netflix’s The Witcher isn’t perfect, and critics have been very honest and direct about its flaws, especially when it comes to the changes it has made to its source material. Even Henry Cavill, who has called himself a big fan of the franchise, has spoken about those changes, and he has shared some interesting insights.

Henry Cavill Had To Find His Character's Place In Netflix's The Witcher

Despite being an adaptation of Sapkowski’s novels and the video games based on them, Netflix’s The Witcher hasn’t been loyal to the books. While it’s expected that an adaptation will make changes, those made by The Witcher ended up changing some characters for the worse, as happened with Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) in season 2.

Even Geralt went through changes, though not as bad or drastic as those of Yennefer, and most were related to how Cavill portrayed the character (such as his lack of dialogue in the first season). As mentioned above, Cavill has called himself a fan of the world of The Witcher, so he knew the character of Geralt quite well before he was cast, but this knowledge wasn’t of much help.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2020, Cavill opened up about the challenges of playing Geralt, sharing that it was all about finding his character’s place in the vision of the showrunner (Lauren Schmidt Hissrich). Cavill explained that Hissrich had a “particular vision for the show” and the characters, but the books the show is based on are mostly told from Geralt’s perspective.

Cavill points out that Netflix’s The Witcher has focused more on a Ciri (Frey Allan) and Yennefer perspective, so he had to find Geralt’s place within that vision while also doing everything he could to be as faithful to the source material as possible. Cavill also mentioned that his focus was on keeping the show going, but also maintaining his love for the books and games.

Ultimately, for him, the point was to find that perfect spot between bringing Hissrich’s vision to life while also staying as loyal to the novels and games as possible.

The Witcher's Ensemble Cast Fundamentally Changed The Story

Although Ciri’s story is what brings Geralt and Yennefer together, the main character in The Witcher is Geralt – after all, there’s a reason why the novel series is called that. While the novels also tell the story of Ciri, the main character in them is Geralt, but the Netflix show chose to seize the richness of the Witcher universe.

Netflix’s The Witcher has brought to the front and center characters like Ciri and Yennefer (of course!), along with the White Flame, Cahir, Jaskier, Vilgefortz, sorceresses like Phillippa, and allies like Milva and Regis. With such a variety of characters, many of which have fascinating and complex stories, The Witcher had to change its story and approach.

Ciri And Yennefer Made The Witcher's Changes Easier To Digest

Luckily, those changes mentioned above have been easier to manage than radical changes in a character’s motivations and major changes to their stories. Ciri and Yennefer, in particular, have played a big role in making those changes to The Witcher a lot easier to digest for the audience, especially those acquainted with the books and games.

Although Geralt is the main character in The Witcher books and games, Ciri also takes a huge role, and she’s widely considered the heart of the series. Making Ciri and Yennefer main characters alongside Geralt in Netflix’s The Witcher makes it easier to bring other characters into the mix and adds more depth to Geralt’s story thanks to their connection to him.

On the other hand, Ciri and Yennefer’s more prominent roles in the Netflix show have forced it to keep them separate from Geralt most of the time, so their individual stories can be properly developed. This has been one of the most criticized aspects of the show, but the changes made have made this a necessary move.

Henry Cavill's Geralt Of Rivia Never Lived Up To His Full Potential

Unfortunately, and despite Henry Cavill’s efforts to bring his best version of Geralt to life, he never lived up to his full potential. Cavill surprised the audience when he announced he would be stepping down from The Witcher after season 3, with Liam Hemsworth cast as Geralt for The Witcher seasons 4 and 5.

It seemed like Cavill had finally found the perfect balance in season 3 between what the showrunner envisioned and what he knew about Geralt, but with him leaving the show right after it, we will never know what else he had prepared.

Henry Cavill didn’t have an easy task when he was cast as Geralt in The Witcher, but he certainly did his best with what he was given, what he knew, and what he wanted his version of Geralt to be like.