'The Witcher' Fans Slam Henry Cavill Ad as 'Disrespectful'

By Michael Hein

The Witcher fans do not like the way Netflix is marketing the change from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth. The streamer announced last year that after Season 3, Cavill would leave the show and would be recast as Hemsworth starting in Season 4 – a change that has consumed the fandom despite being years away. Now, fans are saying that ads emphasizing Cavill's swan song are a bad look for the show overall.

The new ad campaign that has fans upset features the catchphrase "YEs, he's still Geralt in Season 3," sandwiched between the logos for Netflix and The Witcher. This weekend, the official Netflix Twitter account posted photos where this slogan was projected onto buildings around the world at the scale of billboard, and apparently even onto a mountainside in one case. Fans thought that this kind of flippant meta-commentary was a disservice to Cavill's performance and could undercut Hemsworth's debut, while many also felt that it implied some desperation from the streamer.

Cavill has been synonymous with The Witcher because he was already a huge fan of the franchise before the show began, having played the video games and read the books. He did not give a reason for his departure but many fans have speculated that he had creative clashes with the writers and producers over places where the show portrayed events or characters differently from the books. This has never been confirmed and has been disputed in many ways, especially since it coincided with rapid developments in Cavill's career in other franchises.

Nonetheless, many commenters have said that they will be ignoring Netflix's Witcher franchise after Cavill departs, and clearly the streamer has taken that to heart. Season 3, Volume 1 premiered last week on Netflix, and Volume 2 premieres on Thursday, July 27. Here's a look at what fans are saying about this marketing strategy.

Messy

Fans speculated that this post meant Netflix is not seeing great viewership numbers for The Witcher Season 3, which is not necessarily the case. As one of Netflix's biggest intellectual properties, The Witcher gets a more substantial marketing push than many of its other shows. The idea that posts like this are undercutting Hemsworth is a bit more subjective.

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Know What's Coming

For some fans, Season 3 is not worth the watch because they know the story won't be completed with Cavill at the helm.

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Committed

Some fans predicted that Netflix would cancel The Witcher if Season 3 performed badly, meaning Hemsworth might never make it to the screen. Netflix has reportedly greenlit future seasons, though studios have been known to pull out of those agreements at the last minute.

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Poor Liam

Fans thought it was rude of Netflix to refer to this transition so publicly knowing Hemsworth would likely see it. They felt bad for the actor stepping into a beloved role that many people wanted to see Cavill continue playing.

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Only Option

Some fans seemed to think that making a joke out of this recasting is Netflix's only choice since they can't ignore the overwhelming fan response on social media.

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Informative

Some fans who don't follow entertainment news too closely genuinely found this ad campaign informative. With the re-casting announced so far it advance, it felt natural to assume that Season 3 would star Hemsworth, not Cavill.

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Celebrating

Finally, fans that are enjoying Season 3 made celebratory posts, ignoring the heated discourse to come in favor of the awe-inspiring action they're in the middle of now. The Witcher Season 3, Volume 1 is streaming now on Netflix. Volume 2, Cavill's final batch of episodes, premieres on Thursday, July 27.

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