The Witcher season 4 continues to struggle before being even close to its release. Replacing Henry Cavill with Liam Hemsworth didn't fly well with fans and the writers don't have the best reputation, either, leading to a massive petition with a whopping 320,000 signatures.
Netflix has been under fire for months at this point for the decision to let the embodiment of Geralt of Rivia, everybody's darling Henry Cavill, go from The Witcher. Cavill infamously is a big Witcher fan, having read all the books and being deep into the lore, and he absolutely nailed it as Geralt. He has the looks, the attitude and the source material down to a tee – or rather, had.
Cavill stepping down from portraying the White Wolf after season 3 has been the last straw for Witcher fans. Game and book fans alike had been rather displeased with the Netflix adaptation for various reasons, especially the writing that seemed to make a mock of the source material at times. Without Cavill as a saving grace, fans are already disappointed.
They soon turned that disappointment into numbers with a petition that speaks volumes.
Over 320,000 Signatures To Keep Henry Cavill As The Witcher And Fire The Writers
In October 2022, user "Stef Ma" started the petition at Netflix: "You MUST keep Henry Cavill as The Witcher and replace the writers instead."A year later, it has amassed a whopping 320,000 signatures and counting. The support (or the need to let Netflix know just how displeased fans are) has been huge, even though the wording is a bit harsh at times:
The reason why The Witcher is such a popular show is the fans’ love of the source material of books and games, that are hated by and have actively been mocked by the writers and showrunner. Henry Cavill is one of those big fans, he knows all of it inside out and wanted to stay true to Sapkowski’s world, which is why Netflix wants to replace him.
In the petition, they are begging to not let The Witcher make the same mistakes Game of Thrones made with the final season with "writers and showrunners that believe themselves to be superior to the actual creator of the stories." True. Harsh, but true.
Still, even if it's a tough pill to swallow, the petition probably won't do much. There has also been a petition to remake the atrocity that was the GoT finale, and nothing came of that either. Henry's gone and Liam Hemsworth will take his spot, whether fans like it or not.
But, in Hemsworth's defense: he hasn't even had the chance to prove himself as the White Wolf yet, so the hate coming his way is totally misplaced. It's not his fault Netflix made a grave mistake, and he's trying. Still, the petition is a pretty clear testament that the writers should really try and finally get their sh*t together if they want to save the show.
If you still want to take a stance and sign the petition anyway, you can do so right here.