I am not entirely sure why Netflix feels the need to barrel forward with this, but now The Witcher has lost yet another character for season 4, after previously replacing the departing Henry Cavill with Liam Hemsworth for the next season.
That would be Vesemir actor Kim Bodina, who issued a statement about his departure. It does not seem to be due to any hostilities, but rather a shooting conflict, according to his spokesperson:
“Kim will not return as Vesemir as his current shooting diary didn’t fit in with Netflix’s shooting schedule of The Witcher season 4.”
He’s supposed to appear in F1, the massively expensive Apple TV+ film starring Brad Pitt and directed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski. So yeah, you might understand how that would take priority over a supporting role in a flagging Netflix fantasy series.
The exact nature of Henry Cavill’s exit from The Witcher remains mostly unknown, with rumors being that he sparred with those working on the project from departing from the source material and other reasons, but we have nothing confirmed about that, and there were no public fights about the departure among the involved parties.
At that point, it seemed like maybe Netflix should just call it a day on the series, but instead they cast Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth to take on the role of Geralt. But now his mentor, Vesemir, is being recast too, which is certainly not a great look no matter the circumstances. The two women leads, Yennefer’s Anya Chalotra and Ciri’s Freya Allen remain on the show. For now, at least, though they have spoken positively about the upcoming season and how Hemsworth is trying to do a good job filling the vacant role, and does not deserve any harassment for doing so.
While season 1 of The Witcher was generally widely well-received by both game and book fans, thanks mainly to Cavill’s Geralt, the following two seasons drew controversy by veering away from the source material in many ways, along with what was perceived as a general drop in overall quality.
But Netflix has seemed determined that hell or high water, they will be finishing the five seasons of the show as initially promised, with Hemsworth taking the part for the last two seasons. And I guess whoever ends up playing Vesemir now. And hopefully the women will not leave ahead of season 5 for whatever reason.
As of now, The Witcher season 4 is supposed to release some time between July and September in 2025, so it could be close to another year before we see it. This would be after season 3 debuted in June of 2023, split in half with the second bit airing in July, as Netflix unfortunately tends to do now. So, it’s looking like a full two years between seasons, more than that, even.
What issue may plague this project next? I guess we’ll wait and find out.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
