Henry Cavill will not return to The Witcher after Superman exit

Henry Cavill has hung up Superman’s cape for good in the DC Universe. Does that mean he will reconsider exiting The Witcher on Netflix? Unfortunately for fans of Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia, the odds are not looking good for him to return.

The surprise announcement that Cavill had left his dream role of Geralt behind and been recast with The Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth was a big shock to The Witcher fans across the globe.

Because news of the actor’s exit broke around the same time Cavill was set to reprise his role as Superman in a Black Adam cameo, and he previously confirmed in October that he would be back as the Man of Steel, many assumed the reasoning for Cavill leaving The Witcher was due to his Superman obligations, but that doesn’t appear to be the whole truth.

It’s more likely that Cavill left the show due to its creative direction, as it wouldn’t have been too difficult for him to play both roles simultaneously.

Why isn’t Henry Cavill playing Superman anymore?

DC is going through a significant leadership change and restructuring (again) with new co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran. Safran and Gunn are trying to create a long-term plan for the DCEU to rival the MCU and that plan involves canning several projects that were in development, including the long-awaited Man of Steel sequel and Wonder Woman 3.

Gunn is reportedly developing two Superman movies, but neither will feature Cavill’s version of the character. One of the Superman films in development will focus on a young Clark Kent, while the other in the works is J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Superman movie.

On December 14, Cavill officially confirmed that he would not be returning to the role in an Instagram post.

Will Henry Cavill return to The Witcher?

Now that Cavill’s schedule has seemingly opened up, many are hopeful he will return to The Witcher for its upcoming fourth season. But that’s probably not going to happen. Maybe if Netflix hadn’t already recast the role, there could be a discussion, but the fact that they did suggest that this has been in the works for a long time.

Cavill has always been adamant about sticking to Andrzej Sapkowski’s original vision presented in the Witcher books, and the show has increasingly gone in a different direction. Cavill’s various statements during interviews and to the press ndicate that he has had to fight against certain creative decisions made in the show, like preventing Roach’s death from being played for laughs and ensuring the on-screen version of Geralt matches the book’s depiction.

As a diehard fan of Sapkowski’s work, Cavill is very loyal to the text. There is a lot of evidence indicating some pushback behind the scenes that would appear to show he wasn’t entirely happy with the creative direction of the series. If that’s the case, then it doesn’t matter what jobs Cavill has; he’s probably not going to return.

Update: Sources confirm Cavill is not returning

According to a new Deadline article, sources have confirmed that Cavill is not returning to The Witcher and that his departure from the show was his choice and an amicable one at that.

The Witcher prequel series Blood Origin premieres on December 25, and The Witcher season 3 (Cavill’s final season) will debut next summer.