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The Witcher fans couldn't be less thrilled about Henry Cavill's departure

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Liam Hemsworth has some big shoes to fill, and the fan response is already against him.

The Witcher TV series - Geralt scowls, in full realization of his intrinsic character.
(Image credit: Netflix)

most muscular PC gamer (apart from me).

A quick glance at the the show's massive success). 

Plenty of fans are giving up on the show entirely, or at least claiming to. "It definitely tells me I'm out after it," writes a fan going by the name 2th, "Cavill was a great Geralt. And I've seen Liam Hemsworth act. He's not even remotely as good as Cavill". Pretty harsh on poor old Liam—and there are at least some Hemsworth fans out there that are ambivalent about seeing him step into Geralt's shoes—but a very common sentiment across Witchery social media at the moment.

Of course, whether or not people actually stick to these bold declarations remains to be seen. It wouldn't be the first time fans of a series have pledged to boycott it before quietly sneaking back on board.

The recent news that not all of the show's writers "absolutely" do seven seasons of the show so long as they "honour [Witcher author Andrzej] Sapkowski's work" have many blaming the news on the writing team. That's a bit of a stretch, to say the least. While it could well be that Cavill was dissatisfied with the show for any number of reasons, it's also true that big, successful actors have to make sacrifices to pursue new opportunities all the time.

Still, on the plus side, the news has generated a super-abundance of memes. That's about the closest thing you can find to a positive reaction online right now.

toss_a_prayer_for_the_witcher from r/witcher
the_only_henry_replacement_i_would_accept from r/witcher

So Liam Hemsworth, whom I confess I had confused with his brother for a solid hour or so, has an uphill battle ahead of him to ever be accepted as Geralt. My advice? Just spend a lot of time chatting about Warhammer and build PCs with your shirt off. That seemed to do the trick for the Geralt of yore.

Joshua Wolens
Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.