What does Henry Cavill’s upcoming exit from ‘The Witcher’ mean for his future as Superman?

During the past several years when Henry Cavill didn’t suit up as Superman, he devoted himself to embodying Geralt of Rivia for the hit Netflix series The Witcher, based on the books series of the same name and subsequent video games.

Just as word started to circulate that Cavill would be willing to get back into the blue and red spandex to play the man from Krypton, questions arose about his role as Geralt. This was soon followed by the shocking revelation that after the third season of The Witcher airs next year, Cavill would relinquish his spot to Liam Hemsworth.

What does Cavill’s The Witcher exit mean for Superman?

Cavill is on record talking about the love he harbors for both Superman and Gerart, but it seems that he couldn’t be the Witcher and The Man of Steel at the same time. Maybe one fantasy world is all Cavill could take to fully submerse himself in character.

Whether you’ve seen the latest DC film Black Adam on the big screen or not, you might have heard that the mid-credits scene in the Dwayne Johnson film teased that Cavill’s Superman will fly again. Following that, Cavill was quoted several times about his reverence for his time as Superman.

In a widely-circulated Instagram post from Cavill, he announced officially what many had already begun to catch wind of: the red cape is coming back.

A very small taste of what’s to come, my friends. The dawn of hope renewed. Thank you for your patience, it will be rewarded.

That Cavill doesn’t address his time as The Witcher coming to a close in the same post is a bit disappointing, especially since the fans he is thanking are also the ones who still are hoping for some answers regarding what went wrong on set or with the creative direction of the Netflix show. Cavill’s message makes it pretty clear, though, that he is going forward as The Man of Steel and leaving his steel and armor as the White Wolf behind.

This means that Cavill will play Superman again in a full-length film, most likely a standalone feature with Superman in the title and him as the lead, with some other characters from the newly-named DCU playing a part in his next outing as the Kryptonian superhero.

Why would Henry Cavill go back to Superman now?

Johnson had been pining for Cavill’s return to the DCU, and what The Rock wants he usually gets, as he is undoubtedly one of the most persuasive and charismatic people in the entertainment industry.

Just like that, Cavill checked out of The Witcher, and almost instantly started talking up Superman again. The timing isn’t coincidental, because neither The Witcher season three nor a fourth Cavill-involved Superman film is on the immediate horizon, so it is most likely that this development was in the works for some time. Cavill’s cameo in Black Adam just spurred the need for all the announcements.

Since shooting for The Witcher is exhausting and time-consuming, as is playing Superman, it makes sense that Cavill couldn’t really do both with the demands each takes.

Cavill is a well-known fan of The Witcher and it has been speculated that perhaps those running the Netflix show weren’t willing to be as true to source material as he would like. Or, perhaps DC, Johnson, and even James Gunn presented a plan for Superman and Cavill so intriguing (and monetarily rewarding) that he couldn’t resist.

Along with that comes reporting that, indeed, Cavill’s level of diligence and enthusiasm for The Witcher was not being met by those put in charge of the show by Netflix. Forbes dug up quotes from both Cavill, and former The Witcher producer Beau DeMayo, that echoed the sentiment that a lack of Witcher passion from others involved sunk the show to places Cavill did not want it to go.

“As far as the preparation goes, coming into this, I wanted the character to have a closer relationship to the character in the books, I wanted him to be more book accurate. And so it was more to do with making sure and campaigning for him to sound more intellectual, more philosophical, and to have an emotional side as well, rather than just be a grumpy snowman. Every day I was pushing this stuff as far as prep goes…At the present he can be a little uncommunicative. And I’m obviously working on that,” Cavill said.

With DeMayo saying: “I’ve been on show — namely Witcher – where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material). It’s a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos, and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.”

Johnson is said to have wanted Cavill on board so badly he went above everyone’s heads and directly to the execs at Warner Bros. to allow Cavill back into the fray. Johnson himself revealed just how much he had pined for Cavill to jut his chin back in as Superman, when he reposted Cavill’s post on his own Instagram handle with the following caption, which surely throws shade at those no longer in charge of things over at DC.  

“We fought for years to bring you back. They always said no. But for @DanyGarciaCo @hhgarcia41 & myself “no” was never an option. We can’t intelligently & strategically build out our DC Universe without the greatest superhero of all time. Because for us, the fans will always come first. As wild as it sounds, I learned that ‘fans first’ philosophy back when I wrestling in flea markets for $40 bucks a match well before the bright lights of WWE. Welcome home, Superman. I’ll see you down the road….”

Now that the love fest between the two bros is well publicized, we can see the path ahead for Black Adam and Superman to lead a new revolution for the DCU to start challenging the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The future of Superman

Think back to earlier this year, when we saw a silhouette of Superman floating in the air during the final scenes of the wildly popular Peacemaker. Perhaps the fact that fans were stoked to see the real Aquaman (Jason Momoa) there for real (let’s just leave The Flash alone for now), they were just as equally disappointed that it was clearly not Cavill floating above as Superman.

In an Oct. 22 interview with The Hollywood Reporter we learned from many of the players involved how they secretly shot the mid-credits scene for Johnson and eventually Cavill before they even had the go-ahead that Cavill could be allowed to appear in Black Adam.

That led to more details coming out from Cavill in Variety, which showed that the future of Superman is shining brightly, and we can expect the spandex-clad Cavill back as Clark Kent and The Man of Steel for many, many years to come.

“I went to Warner Bros.’ studio in the UK and got back in the suit,” Cavill told Variety. “It was a very powerful moment for me. I wasn’t sure how I would feel…whether it would be something very emotionally connective because I put the Man of Steel suit back on. I chose that one in particular because of the nostalgia attached to the suit. It was important for me to be standing there and enjoying that moment. That is one of the top moments in my career. It feels great to have the opportunity to wear it again.”