The Witcher: everything you need to know about Netflix’s fantasy epic – The Verge

Liam Hemsworth isn’t the problem with The Witcher’s fourth season

2025-10-31T15:20:13-04:00

Let's just get this out of the way: Liam Hemsworth actually makes for a pretty solid Geralt of Rivia. Hemsworth assumes the mantle in the fourth season of Netflix's The Witcher, picking up from Henry Cavill. And while it can be distracting at first, especially since Cavill inhabited the role so well, it only took a few episodes before I was mostly on board with the new face under the blonde wig. He still knows how to wield a sword, and he still answers most questions with a cranky "fuck." The problem isn't that the show has a new lead actor; it's that it continues to be a bloated mess, and season 4 doesn't do anything to fix that.

In case y …

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Liam Hemsworth is Geralt in the first Witcher season 4 trailer

2025-09-13T21:30:29-04:00

It's been a few years since Netflix confirmed that Liam Hemsworth would be taking over as Geralt of Rivia in the live-action Witcher series. And while we caught a brief glimpse of him in action last year, the first proper clip from season 4 of the show reveals just how Hemsworth will be inhabiting the role - including his take on Geralt's signature growling voice.

In addition to giving us a better look at Geralt, Netflix also confirmed that The Witcher's newest season is coming out pretty soon: it will start streaming on October 30th. The show's end is in sight, as Netflix previously confirmed that it will conclude with season 5. Here's the …

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Netflix’s Sirens of the Deep is a throwback to classic Witcher monster hunting

2025-10-23T16:37:34-04:00

The Witcher is in a period of transition right now. While the live-action TV series is shifting to a new lead actor in the role of Geralt as it approaches its finale, the next game will switch things up even more, with Ciri as the protagonist. These are huge changes for the fantasy franchise. And before they happen, we have The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, an animated film that isn't burdened with any of that. Instead, it's a classic Witcher tale: monster hunting with equal parts action, humor, and tragedy.

Based on the short story "A Little Sacrifice," Sirens of the Deep has Geralt (voiced by Doug Cockle, reprising the role from the games) …

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Here’s your first look at Liam Hemsworth in The Witcher

2024-05-22T11:39:42-04:00

A new actor, but the same white wig. We already knew that Liam Hemsworth was taking over as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's adaptation of The Witcher, replacing Henry Cavill. But now we have our first (official, anyway) look at the actor in the role, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. And he looks like, well, Liam Hemsworth with Geralt's iconic white hair. It's not clear if the shift between actors will be referenced in the show itself, but this early image makes it seem like the transition might be relatively seamless.

Here's how he looks in motion:

Cavill exited the role following season 3 (though it wasn't the most fitting send-off). Hemswo …

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Netflix’s The Witcher will end with season 5

2024-04-18T12:21:19-04:00

Henry Cavill as Geralt. | Image: Netflix

We still don't know what Liam Hemsworth will look (or sound) like when he takes up the role of Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher. But we do know how long he'll be wearing the white wig: Netflix has confirmed that the show's fifth season will be its last.

The news comes as Netflix has confirmed that it has started production on season 4 of The Witcher - the first that won't feature Henry Cavill in the lead role - and that it and season 5 will be filmed back to back. The two upcoming seasons will "complete the adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's books," according to Netflix. That means they will cover a trio of Witcher books: Baptism of Fire, The …

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The Witcher continues on Netflix with the Sirens of the Deep animated movie

2023-11-10T16:59:12-05:00

Season 4 of The Witcher may be far off on the horizon, but there's still plenty more of Geralt of Rivia in store on Netflix. At its Geeked Week event today, the streamer announced The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, an animated movie that takes place right in the middle of season 1 of the live-action show and is based on the short story A Little Sacrifice. Doug Cockle, the voice actor from The Witcher 3 video game, will be reprising the role of Geralt.

Here's the official description:

Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster hunter, is hired to investigate a series of attacks in a seaside village and finds himself drawn into a centuries-old conflic …

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The Witcher season 3’s big finale is a wasted opportunity

2023-07-27T08:00:00-04:00

In the finale of The Witcher's third season - which also happens to be the final episode where Henry Cavill will play the lead role - our hero, Geralt of Rivia, spends most of his time in bed. This is not an exaggeration: after getting his ass thoroughly kicked in a previous episode, he's stuck recuperating in a forest, trying his best to get healthy so he can continue his quest. It's a bizarre choice that sidelines Geralt in what should, in theory, be an important moment for the series, the character, and the actor. Instead of sending Cavill out on a high note, the season just kind of… ends.

It didn't have to be this way. When it debuted w …

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The Witcher’s new trailer teases a big, bloody season 3 finale

2023-07-13T10:01:25-04:00

We're approaching the end of an era for Netflix's adaptation of The Witcher. When the final episodes of season 3 drop on July 27th, it will mark the conclusion of Henry Cavill's run as Geralt of Rivia, with Liam Hemsworth taking over the role for subsequent seasons.

In a new trailer, Netflix shows what fans can expect in those last episodes - and it looks like a big, bloody war. At one point, Geralt's sword shatters in battle, suggesting his new big bad enemy is a tough one, and the trailer ends with him saying, "There's no coming back from this." Now that's ominous.

The first half - or volume, as Netflix calls it - of The Witcher's third …

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How The Witcher explores its own history through fashion, architecture, and weapons

2023-07-06T12:00:00-04:00

The Witcher season 3. | Photo by Susie Allnutt / Netflix

As The Witcher has grown beyond its first season and expanded with not only multiple seasons but prequels, too, the team behind its visual design has had to expand its ambitions as well. In particular, it's had to think a lot about the history of the world and how it influenced the way things like fashion and architecture evolved on the Continent. That could be as simple as the material utilized to make swords in one time period or as large as a ruin in the main timeline that was once a beautiful structure in the past.

For Andrew Laws, a production and concept designer on the series, all of those details are vital for making The Witcher uni …

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The Witcher season 3 sets up an epic finale for Henry Cavill’s Geralt

2023-06-29T03:01:00-04:00

We've only had two seasons of The Witcher on Netflix, but the show has already had somewhat of an identity crisis. It started off with a bang, with a big, bloody debut that showed exactly why the books and games before it were so beloved. It was dark yet funny, full of action, sexual tension, and all kinds of cool monsters - plus an excellent Henry Cavill as the gruff and lovable Geralt of Rivia. Season 2, meanwhile, lost some of that personality as it attempted to tell a more grand - and typical - fantasy story while also deviating significantly from the books. Things got even more off-track with the prequel Blood Origin.

Now we have seaso …

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