Octopus Overlords

There’s a 0.0% chance that I’m watching anyone other than Henry Cavill as Geralt.

I'll give him a shot. I wasn't sold on Cavill when it was announced (in my mind, it was either Mads or no one), but he did a good job. Also, it's impossible to avoid a Hemsworth these days when it comes to the movie and tv industry, so you may as well stop struggling.

I'm not enthused. But I've been wrong in the past, so I'll still give it a chance.

I'm mainly unenthused for the rest of the cast. It may all work out, but that seems like a shitty thing to do as the lead of the series.

I'll be honest, if WB rolled up to his house with a truck full of 100 dollar bills, I can't really blame him.

It's also worth noting that he hasn't been getting (taking?) movie rolls since starting The Witcher. Film actors are generally considered a step above TV actors in Hollywood, and he may have been worried about becoming more recognized as a TV actor. He may have just decided that it's time to get his career back where he wants it.

At this point he IS Superman. I wouldn't want a new Superman movie and it not be Henry.

Yeah, I'm guessing he signed a contract for 3 seasons and COVID-19 made it an even longer proposition than everyone thought. Knowing Netflix, a three season deal seems like a solid bet as they notoriously end shows without hesitation. It wouldn't surprise me at all if S4 was the final season and they're just hoping it pulls in enough interest to justify the continued costs. This also suggests the Witcher IP is making them money and they want so badly for it to continue.

Either way, I am curious as to how they'll handle it. Cavil is amazing as Geralt, but he's also physically much larger than Geralt ever was - but that's ok because he was so good as Geralt. Liam is a better fit (physically) but if he can't pull of the character it won't matter.

Either way, it does free up Cavil for Superman and DC desperately needs a boost. Interesting times.

Although I cant see a woman playing Geralt I could see a different actor per season sorta like Dr Who. If someone doesn't like one then maybe the next one is mroe for them.

Daehawk wrote:At this point he IS Superman. I wouldn't want a new Superman movie and it not be Henry.

This, except replace “Superman” with “Geralt”. I don’t have to struggle watching a Hemsworth ruin it, the series will just end after Season 3 in my universe.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sun Oct 30, 2022 11:45 am At this point he IS Superman. I wouldn't want a new Superman movie and it not be Henry.

I dunno, but personally I haven't cared much for the Superman movies he's been in, which is down to the direction they've taken with the character.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 30, 2022 1:34 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sun Oct 30, 2022 11:45 am At this point he IS Superman. I wouldn't want a new Superman movie and it not be Henry.

I dunno, but personally I haven't cared much for the Superman movies he's been in, which is down to the direction they've taken with the character.

Right, but as of a few days ago that direction is now being handled by James Gunn. I can't see him making grimdark Synderverse films.

Oh good point. I hadn't considered that. Might be the shot in the arm that DC needs, and bringing back some optimism to Superman might be a good way to go about it.

Im not a Snyder fan.

Yeah, even the Justice League Director's Cut felt like one bad missed opportunity after another. Too overly long and boring with bad CGI.

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:14 am There’s a 0.0% chance that I’m watching anyone other than Henry Cavill as Geralt.

I'm incredibly disappointed with this news. I thought Cavill was knocking it out of the park as Geralt. Hard to imagine him being replaced not being jarring and difficult to watch.

That said, as much as I'd like to say I won't watch without Cavill . . . I know I will.

As someone who loves superman, I don't want another superman movie as each one get worse. He should have stayed as Geralt.

I watched a video yesterday with someone claiming this was the death-knell of the show, that they shouldn't even have continued it after Cavill left, and that they won't be watching it with Helmsworth in it. While I won't go that far, I think it will be difficult to watch someone else embody the role. We've still got one more season with Cavill though, so it's not all bad. One's got to wonder though how much their viewership numbers will tank as a result of the change though.

Is it even that popular of a show? I would of thought they would have just said screw it when he quit.

Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 1:07 pm Is it even that popular of a show? I would of thought they would have just said screw it when he quit.

It's more important than most for Netflix. They have a larger deal with the showrunner, spin-offs, etc. I am a little surprised that they didn't have a larger deal in place with Cavill to prevent exactly this situation.

I mean, this is worse for the show and the Netflix Witcherverse than Patrick Stewart saying fuck it after a few seasons of TNG would have been to the Star Trek 'verse.

I'll still watch. Just because Cavill was perfect doesn't meant that someone else can't be great. If he sucks, that's when I'll stop watching.

Not watching on principle seems... odd.

I certainly hope the series continues for the full intended run. It's disappointing that Cavill is leaving, but the cast is chock-full of talent, not to mention all the people working on it off-camera. I look forward to see what they all have in store.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 1:10 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 1:07 pm Is it even that popular of a show? I would of thought they would have just said screw it when he quit.

It's more important than most for Netflix. They have a larger deal with the showrunner, spin-offs, etc. I am a little surprised that they didn't have a larger deal in place with Cavill to prevent exactly this situation.

I mean, this is worse for the show and the Netflix Witcherverse than Patrick Stewart saying fuck it after a few seasons of TNG would have been to the Star Trek 'verse.

Yeah, I see what you're getting at. While they may have been able to perhaps replace Patrick Stewart with another Captain character, with the Witcher, it's literally about that character, so if the performance doesn't stack up, the show likely will suffer.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:42 pm I watched a video yesterday with someone claiming this was the death-knell of the show, that they shouldn't even have continued it after Cavill left, and that they won't be watching it with Helmsworth in it.

Angry guy videos are hard to find on YouTube!

Yeah, like a needle in a haystack! To be fair, he wasn't as bad as some others who I'd be expecting to be frothing at the mouth.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 3:16 pm Not watching on principle seems... odd.

It’s the difference between watching Geralt, and watching someone pretend to be Geralt. Cavill is that good.

^ Yeah, that's it. I mean, it's the difference between an actor who can embody a role by really being committed to it and then someone else can simply act it. I think Cavill might be a method actor, but I don't get the impression that Liam Helmsworth is.

I should point out that I feel this way, despite Spartacus, which had to recast Spartacus because the first actor died after the first season. It was *very difficult* to watch the two following seasons with the new actor.

He didn’t do a bad job, he just wasn’t Spartacus. I expect it will be even worse in this case, simply because Cavill *is* Geralt.

I'll wait to see how he does before I pass judgement. It's not like they hired Mark Wahlberg, for christ's sake.

"Yo, Foltest, say hi to your mother for me."

I dont know.....it's not like The Withcer is Shakespeare and Cavill is Laurence Olivier or something.
He grunted out a handful of dialogue, took off his shirt a couple of times, kept his wig on straight and swung a sword around.
It's a good show, but not that deep.
As long as they keep the stories somewhat interesting, I think it'll be fine.

If we survived the changing of Dicks of Bewitched, I'm confident we can solider through a new Geralt. It sucks but the other option is no Witcher. I'd rather try this than have it just end. If it sucks, it sucks and they'll never take S1-3 from us. But I'm not entirely ready to completely write off the show even if this feels like a nearly fatal blow.

Besides, everyone knows that Geralt is just a supporting character in Ciri's story. It's really all about her.

Shows what little you know. The series has always been about Roach...

...come to think of it, Wahlberg might be okay as Roach.

Ah, who am I kidding. That would be a disaster.

Im seeing more postings that his leaving was due to him not agreeing with producers. In something like this Id side with the nerd actor who knows his stuff.

There were comments from him from a few years ago about how his taking the role and staying on was conditional on them being true to the source material.

Then there have been rumors about him being at odds with the writers and producers a lot, especially during season 2.

And then we have the interview a short while back about the writers despising the material.

"I've been on show - namely Witcher - where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material)," DeMayo explained. "It's a recipe for disaster and bad morale.

So, yeah - it seems likely that this was all tied into his reasons for leaving.

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 10:12 am I should point out that I feel this way, despite Spartacus, which had to recast Spartacus because the first actor died after the first season. It was *very difficult* to watch the two following seasons with the new actor.

He didn’t do a bad job, he just wasn’t Spartacus. I expect it will be even worse in this case, simply because Cavill *is* Geralt.

Yeah, good comparison! It was super confusing to watch because the two actors really looked nothing alike. Viewers hear the name called out, and you expect the actor to turn around to look behind him or something. I suppose, with being a fantasy, more can be done with makeup to make Liam look more like Geralt, but still.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 2:16 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 10:12 am I should point out that I feel this way, despite Spartacus, which had to recast Spartacus because the first actor died after the first season. It was *very difficult* to watch the two following seasons with the new actor.

He didn’t do a bad job, he just wasn’t Spartacus. I expect it will be even worse in this case, simply because Cavill *is* Geralt.

It was super confusing to watch because the two actors really looked nothing alike.

Oh, come on. Major productions never do that.

Yeah, and it's not like they can just recast the same actor in a different role in a show either.

But to be fair, if you get the great Garret Dillahunt on your show, you're going to use him as much as you possibly can. I mean, that's the smart move by savvy writers/directors.

....then there's Fear the Walking Dead.

Hrothgar wrote:Oh, come on. Major productions never do that.

The first guy was on the show for like 3 minutes and was not a main character.

Imagine after Season 3, they decided to recast Cersei with Stiffler’s Mom.