(Left) Henry Cavill in ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’. Photo: Daniel Smith (Right) ‘Voltron: Legendary Defender.’ Photo: Netflix.
Preview:
Henry Cavill will star in the ‘Voltron’ live-action movie.
‘Red Notice’s Rawson Marshall Thurber is directing.
It’ll adapt the iconic anime series.
We all know Henry Cavill loves working in genre films and shows. He’s played Superman on the big screen, and on TV, he was the star of ‘The Witcher’ for three seasons.
And in his off-screen life, he’s into plenty of geek-tastic pursuits, including video games and table-top gaming.
Details on Cavill’s role in the movie are unknown for now, but we can imagine him either playing a heroic mentor, or, to change things up, a scheming villain.
‘Voltron’ has its roots in the Japanese sci-fi series ‘Beast King GoLion’ and ‘Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV’.
American production World Events bought the rights for the States, then edited and dubbed the series as a syndicated show, titling it ‘Voltron: Defender of the Universe’, which ran in the mid-1980s.
The premise focused on five young pilots in a battalion named the Robot Lions, which are vehicles that merge to form a mega robot known as Voltron and take on a variety of enemies.
The show in animated form has already been rebooted twice, once for the NickToon channel in 2011, while the current version is on Netflix.
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It’s a compelling concept (one that has been referenced and parodied endlessly since its heyday) and a-live action version has been in development at different terms since the early 2000s.
The plot for the new movie, which Thurber wrote with Ellen Shanman, is a mystery for now, but we can expect a fair amount of giant robot combat. The director has been developing this one since at least 2022.
Who else will appear in ‘Voltron’?
‘Voltron: Legendary Defender.’ Photo: Netflix.
Cavill is not the first person cast in the new movie. He joins Daniel Quinn-Toye, a relative newcomer whose previous screen credit was a tiny role in a BBC sitcom called ‘Badults’ that ran in 2013 and 2014.
But Quinn-Toye has one other job that caught the eye of Thurber and Amazon MGM studios: the 21-year old actor, who attended London’s Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts as well as the Dance School of Scotland, was the understudy to Tom Holland in the ‘Spider-Man’ actor’s big return to the theater world this past spring in the West End production of ‘Romeo & Juliet.’ He also had small roles in the play itself.
When will ‘Voltron’ be on screens?
Amazon MGM Studios has yet to confirm a release date for the movie, though Thurber will kick off production this fall in Australia, so it could conceivably be with us next year. Given the likely post-production/effects workload, however, 2026 would be a more sensible target.
Henry Cavill as Superman in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Laurence Fishburne as Bowery King in ‘John Wick: Chapter 4.’ Photo Credit: Murray Close.
Preview:
Laurence Fishburne is the latest recruit for ‘The Witcher’.
Liam Neeson has taken over starring in the show.
The fantasy series will see the characters reeling after world-altering events.
Fans of ‘The Witcher’ were thrown for a loop in 2022 when Henry Cavill announced he was hanging up his sword after three seasons of playing gruff, monster-fighting main character Geralt of Rivia.
And though it was revealed that Liam Hemsworth would be taking over from Cavill as Geralt, there was a huge concern about the show’s future. But it is at least adding a genre veteran in Laurence Fishburne, who is taking a key role.
Fishburne, of course, is known for his varied career, including movies such as ‘The Matrix’, ‘Apocalypse Now’, the ‘John Wick’ franchise and ‘Man of Steel’ (which coincidentally starred Cavill as Superman).
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s ‘The Witcher.’ Photo: Jay Maidment.
Adapted from Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series by show creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, ‘The Witcher’ is set in a world where humans and others battle monsters.
After the shocking, Continent-altering events that close out Season 3, the new season follows Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, who are faced with traversing the war-ravaged Continent and its many demons apart from each other. If they can embrace and lead the groups of misfits they find themselves in, they have a chance of surviving the baptism of fire — and finding one another again.
Who stars in ‘The Witcher’ Season 4?
Liam Hemsworth as Kinney in the action film, ‘Land of Bad,’ a release by The Avenue. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Though Hemsworth and Fishburne are new to the series, stars Anya Chalotra (Yennefer), Freya Allan (Ciri) and Joey Batey (Jaskier) are returning to their roles. Netflix has yet to announce who else will be back and any other new casting.
Who is Laurence Fishburne playing in the new ‘Witcher’ season?
Laurence Fishburne as 20/20 Mike in ‘Once in the Life.’ Photo: Trimark Home Video.
Fishburne is joining the ensemble to play Regis, a fan favorite from the ‘Witcher’ books and games. The character of Regis, introduced in the novel ‘Baptism of Fire’, is a world-wise Barber-surgeon with a mysterious past who joins Geralt on his journey.
Here’s what Fishburne said about the new gig:
“I’m very excited to be joining the cast and look forward to exploring the wondrous world of The Witcher.”
When will ‘The Witcher’ return to TV screens?
With production set to start on the new season in the Spring, it seems unlikely that the show will be back this year, given the hefty effects workload to create the various creatures that populate the ‘Witcher’ world.
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus in ‘The Matrix.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Premiering on Netflix beginning August 31st is the new live-action adaption of the popular manga series ‘One Piece.’ It is based on the highly popular anime and manga, created by Eiichiro Oda. Director Marc Jobst (‘Daredevil’, ‘The Witcher’) helmed the first two episodes and also served as Executive Producer on the series.
What Is The Plot Of ‘One Piece’?
Monkey D. Luffy longs for a life of freedom for as long as he can remember. He is in search of the legendary treasure known as the One Piece and sets out to find a crew to help him on his ultimate quest – to become King of the Pirates. Along the way, Luffy and his crew must outrun the relentless Marines and formidable rivals.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Marc Jobst about the live-action adaptation of the popular anime, what drew him to the project, his love of character-driven stories, and his work on Netflix’s Marvel projects.
‘One Piece’ director Marc Jobst. Photo courtesy of Netflix.
You can read the full interview below or watch our interview by clicking on the video player above.
Moviefone: When you were first brought onto the project, did you feel the need to immediately dive into watching the anime because there’s such extensive lore attached to ‘One Piece’?
Marc Jobst: I really wanted to read and get to the source of this extraordinary story, partly because I absolutely loved Matt (Owens) and Steve (Maeda)’s scripts. I just felt like they were so characterful, and they were so epic, and full of adventure, action-packed, and crazy, and wild, and people chopping up into bits, and all this wonderful crazy stuff. But partly also because what they did in those scripts, and this is what I started with because they sent me the scripts first off, what I loved so much about them, with all those big landscapes and world-building of it all, I loved the fact that there were still these really beautiful little intimate moments between characters, and that’s what drew me into this. I’ve done quite a lot of world-building shows, and they don’t always have from the big to the intimate. Those intimate scenes were also insightful, I felt, about human nature and kindness, actually. So that’s what made me really want to go to the manga and start to read. There is a point at which as a director, you don’t want to become too overburdened. Because I knew Matt Owens, and I’d worked with Matt Owens before, and I knew that he knew everything there was to know, he was a pillar that I could lean on in order to really make sure that I wasn’t veering from the lore in anything that I was proposing to do. I found this when I was doing the Marvel Studios work, sometimes as a director, you just need to see what you see on the page and come to it with a freshness. After all, we were trying to create a show that was fresh, that was additional to the manga and the anime, not in place of.
MF: Aside from being the executive producer, you directed the first two episodes. Can you talk about the process of crafting those initial episodes?
MJ: Yeah, and I’m a character and story man. When I’m sent a script, I’m only really interested in what happens. Who are the characters, what’s their story, what do they want, and what’s their journey? Do I feel like their journey involves some relatable story that as an audience, you can connect with? So when I read those first scripts, that was my first thing, never mind about the crazy world, and the phenomenal characters that exist within it, that’s all lovely. But really if it doesn’t feel to me like we are really exploring character, it’s maybe not my bag of chips. This absolutely did, and that’s what drew me in. So when you ask how do you approach that with the actors, Oda has written phenomenal backstories to these characters. They’re really deep, they’re really profound, they’re really troubled in some respects, first of all. Second of all, they have clear wants. Luffy wants to be king of the pirates, Zoro wants to be the best swordsman in the world, Nami wants to be able to draw a map of the entire universe. All those wants are really clear. So you have a character with a backstory that they bring to life and that they want to achieve something. So what’s the obstacle, and how do they overcome that obstacle, and how do they bring friendships and relationships that enable them to overcome those obstacles? So when I started working with these actors, first of all, the casting process was significant because, obviously, we wanted to travel the world to find the right actors for this. We absolutely knew we wanted the right people, and we wouldn’t stop until we got them. So having done that, and having found these extraordinary people who have heart, primarily they have heart, and they have a beautiful big generous spirit. Number one is what we wanted to cast. Number two, I needed actors who could be physical, who could do a lot of the stunt work themselves, who were excited by doing that, because of the way that I like to shoot action and the way that I wanted the ‘One Piece’ action to look and to feel different from other show’s action. So having done that, then we had four, five weeks of rehearsal together in Cape Town. Bear in mind, these are young actors, so they haven’t all spent a lifetime in front of the camera, or a lifetime acting even. So we went through all the stages that you do when you work with actors, and I’ve spent a life in theater and film. So all that experience I could bring to the floor. We played silly games, and we ate, and we laughed a lot, and we humiliated ourselves in front of each other. We went and did a bit of community work to give something back to the communities in South Africa, and that was a bonding experience for us as a family. So that by the time we got onto the set, we trusted each other. My job then is to create a space in all the technology that goes around a film set, that when they walked onto the floor, that space is for them and for them only, and everybody else serves the actor. That’s just the way that I work as a director. Everything serves the actor because, look, you can have the best sets and visual effects, and sound effects, and special effects, and whizz, bangs, and whistles in the world, but if you don’t believe the person that’s in front of you, you don’t fall in love with a set, you fall in love with a person. So that’s where I wanted to work.
MF: You worked on several IPs that have a lot of action. For ‘One Piece,’ these are characters with special abilities, but they’re not quite typical like your normal comic book characters. Can you talk about crafting the fight scenes and the action scenes, and using these special abilities because they’re quite different?
MJ: Action can get really tedious, and action can get really tiring to watch. Actually, ultimately, it can really affect your enjoyment of a story if it’s not done well and if it’s not done with a purpose. I learned that on ‘Daredevil’, shooting ‘Daredevil’. I was having dinner with some friends in New York when we were prepping the shoot, and this lady said to me, “Oh, I love Daredevil. He’s fantastic. I just fast forward all the action sequences.” You think, “Oh my God, if you’re just fast-forwarding the action sequence, which we spend days preparing, and rehearsing, and talking about, we’re not doing something right.” So to me, action is sometimes a bit like a song in a musical. If you can just take it out and the story still works, it’s not quite working. So action has to, in some form or other, affect character or influence story, number one. So that’s something that I took into ‘The Witcher’ as well. The big sword fight there, I really was very keen that I wanted that first section to be a single shot sword fight to tell the story that this is a badass guy who knows how to wield a sword. By the way, Henry Cavill knows how to wield a sword. That would allow me then, in the second part, to cut the fight up so that I could really control the main event, which was Geralt and Renfri. Then I could stop it and I could get the eye-to-eye contact, and I could get that sense of are they going to kiss or are they going to kill? So if you take that then into ‘One Piece’, what is the tone of the action in ‘One Piece?’ Well, first of all, it’s much more playful, and it’s important to get that playfulness right. Partly you’ve got this guy with rubber arms, and so if you take it too seriously, suddenly you’re going to get this moment of crazy visual effects, which is going to come out of nowhere, and you’re going to think, “Well, that doesn’t quite fit.” So you have to find a tone that fits that. Then second of all, fundamentally, Marvel and ‘Witcher’ were all about the hits, it was all about the punch. So you would make sure that you got this hit and this punch, and so that you could see what was happening, and the sweat coming off the forehead, and the blood coming out of the mouth, and it’s visceral. In ‘One Piece’, to me, it was all about the journey to get to the hit. It was all about the choreography, it was all about the dance. It’s much more ‘Crouching Tiger’ and ‘Kung Fu Hustle’, than it is those gritty, hard Marvel shows, if you see what I mean. So that set the tone for the fight sequences. Then of course, because of the way that I wanted to honor some of the framing of the manga, we developed these special lenses that were made for the show. They’re super wide, but they’re also extremely close focus. So it means that we could do these long sweeping camera shots that didn’t rely constantly on cutting, which is the bit that gets you tired. Added to that, in order to achieve those long sweeping shots, you can’t do that on the day, that’s got to be rehearsed with camera. So the studio, and Netflix, and I, and Steve, and Matt discussed that it would be far better to have a single camera operator purely dedicated, 100% of the time to rehearse with a stunt team. So they’re in the Dojo the whole time, and they learn the choreography of the fight with the camera, and they can also influence the choreography. So they can say, “Look, if you just hold that moment up a beat, I can get my camera around here so we don’t have to do a cut to land the hit.” That was very important to what I hope people enjoy about the action in ‘One Piece’.
MF: Can you talk more about the special lenses you developed for the series and why you like using wide shots for fight sequences?
MJ: The thing about these lenses, the thing about the close focus and the wide is that, this is a travel show. There is no precinct, they don’t end up always coming back to one place. They do come back to the Going Merry, but the Merry’s really only there to take them somewhere else. So location, world-building, have got to be in the DNA of everything that we do. Then you can choose if you want to go really close for those intimate scenes to do that. But all the rest of it felt like to me, we wanted to have location with us all the time because that’s part of what the DNA of the show is. So to have had these lenses that enabled us to work on eight-millimeter, 14-millimeter, 21-millimeter lenses, not only would give the show a completely unique look but was also true to what the manga is.
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s ‘The Witcher.’ Photo: Jay Maidment.
MF: You’ve worked on so many TV shows. We just mentioned ‘Daredevil’ and ‘The Witcher,’ as well as ‘The Punisher,’ ‘Luke Cage,’ and ‘Hannibal.’ All of these are huge IPs with big fan bases. So what is your approach to projects like that, and is there something that draws you to this genre?
MJ: No, not really. I love story, and I love character, and it goes back to what we said earlier on. If I get a script and I’m drawn in to the arc of the character, if I am fascinated by the world and what it explores, then I’m in. I don’t ever consider myself a genre director. In fact, I’m mostly known for very intense human dramas, particularly in the UK and Europe. Things like ‘Tin Star,’ and ‘Hannibal,’ and ‘Criminal Justice,’ which was then made into ‘The Night Of.’ Those dramas are the things that I started my career in. Then I think it’s just because I approach action shows and genre shows with all those simple questions that you start off when you are learning your craft as a director, which is what’s the story? What do they want? Where do they come from, and who are they? Once you’ve got those elements together, you’re off. Whether it’s a genre show, a superhero show, a fantasy show, or a very intense human kitchen sink drama show, it’s the same thing. What do these people want? It’s one of the things that I work with most on set, what’s the story? What are we really trying to tell you? I know what the journey is, but what’s it about? What is it really about? What’s ‘One Piece’ really about? It’s about believing in your dreams, it’s about believing in yourself, it’s about friendship, being loyal to your friends, and it’s about standing up for what you believe. Great values. We know that. So that becomes the true North with which we set up this whole show. My job as a director is to hold the tiller of our boat, and make sure that we go off in that direction and set sail and reach our end destination. That’s my job. There are plenty of winds that blow around to try and knock the ship off course, all the time, because this is a huge production. But that’s my job. To remind people all the time, and then to say to the actors, “What do you want? What do you want from this scene? What do you want from the story, ultimately? What do you want in your life?” Those are the things that begin to help you to create characters which are three-dimensional, that come from a two-dimensional world.
MF: As you know, Marvel is bringing ‘Daredevil’ back to Disney+ with ‘Daredevil: Born Again,’ which will feature both Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio reprising their roles from the Netflix series. What piece of advice would you give to the creators of the new show?
MJ: I feel like if you create too straight a line, it doesn’t feel authentic and real. That’s the great trick of ‘Daredevil’, and that’s the great trick of adapting the Marvel Comics into live action, is don’t take a straight line because human beings aren’t a straight line. If we’re trying to dimensionalize characters as in ‘One Piece’, as in ‘Daredevil’, and as in all these adaptations from 2D into 3D, if you try to take a straight line, it becomes fake. One of the great skills that I think ‘Daredevil’ had, actually, they all had in their own ways, but let’s talk about ‘Daredevil’ because that’s the one that is soonest off the starting blocks, is you have Charlie Cox embodying a real human being in that. Charlie Cox is interested in doing that. Of course, we set it into a superhero world, but if you are going to humanize, if you’re going to dimensionalize, you have to follow that through. It’s a bit like in ‘One Piece’, when a few people have talked to me about, “Oh, it feels much more explicit and bloody than the manga.” I say, “Well, if you’re going to dimensionalize your character, and you’re going to go into proper fights, if you don’t have any of that, you’re not staying true to your intention. That will come across.” So with those superhero shows and with shows like ‘Daredevil’, it’s making sure that you are truthful to the human experience, which is not ever a straight line.
MF: Finally, with ‘One Piece’ having already premiered on Netflix, is there another story from anime or manga that has piqued your interest and that you would like to eventually tell?
MJ: Well, to be honest, it’s been so pretty full on with getting ‘One Piece’ to the starting line, I haven’t really had very much headspace to be open to others. Because mangas and animes are worlds, and you dive into it. I don’t devour manga, I don’t devour anime. I devour story, and I devour character. So I’m just hoping, let’s just see how this goes, let’s just see whether we can make it to the starting line of another series, which would be so incredible. I hope if that happens, I could be involved again. But none of us are holding our breath because you just don’t know in this business. We’ve done the best that we can. We’ve put our heart and soul into it. Everybody, the entire huge 800,000 people on this job have worked so hard on it. Of course, in the end, the proof is in the viewing.
‘One Piece’ director Marc Jobst. Photo courtesy of Netflix.
Director’s Statement: Marc would like to state that he supports both SAG and WGA in their pursuit of reaching a fair and equitable resolution to the respective strikes. In talking about his work – past and present – he does so with unequivocal support for the highly skilled crews that make up the different unions (SAG and WGA included) and believes all should be valued and recompensed for the contributions they make in bringing these series and films to life.
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s ‘The Witcher.’ Photo: Jay Maidment.
It’s been a rough couple of months for Henry Cavill, career-wise. At the end of October, the announcement came that he was stepping away from Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’, with Liam Hemsworth taking over playing the lead role, Geralt of Rivia (Cavill will still be seen as the character in the upcoming third season next year).
At the time it was thought that the decision was down to him deciding to focus instead on his big screen career, since just before the ‘Witcher’ news broke, he’d taken to social media to confirm his return as Superman in the DC movies, with––spoiler alert––a cameo in the end credits of ‘Black Adam’. As it turns out, more recent reports suggest that he’d become increasingly dissatisfied with the creative direction of ‘The Witcher’ and made the choice to move on.
Still, he had Superman waiting, right? Wrong! The other shoe dropped just this week when new DC Studios co-chief James Gunn used his own twitter feed to announce that the movie universe would be going forward with a new movie he wrote… One that won’t star Cavill.
So, what is the actor to do? Fortunately, he can fall back on something that has long been a passion: ‘Warhammer 40,000’.
Amazon has secured the rights to the game, produced by Games Workshop, after months of negotiations and fending off rival companies, aiming to make both TV for its Prime Video service, and movies. It appears that Cavill is aboard to star in and produce the initial series alongside Vertigo Entertainment.
Henry Cavill Officially Returning as Superman.
“I have loved ‘Warhammer’ since I was a boy, making this moment truly special for me. The opportunity to shepherd this cinematic universe from its inception is quite the honour and the responsibility,” said Cavill. “I couldn’t be more grateful for all the hard work put in by Vertigo, Amazon Studios and Games Workshop to make this happen. One step closer to making a nigh on lifelong dream come true.”
If you’re looking at ‘Warhammer’ and saying “Whathammer?”, allow us to provide a military briefing. The ‘Dungeons & Dragons’-style sci-fi dice game is set 40,000 years into the future where the situation is dark and dire.
Human civilization has stopped progressing and is in an unending war with aliens and magical beings, with gods and demons figuring into a theological class system.
The humans make up the Imperium of Man, who are militaristic. A race of skeleton-like androids are known as the Necron; there is an elvish race known as Aeldari as well as Orks; Tyranids are nasty aliens; and the T’au is a blue-skinned alien race that may offer some hope. So now you know.
‘Warhammer’, which first launched in 1987, is one of those games that has influenced lots of other projects and faces potential criticism that it is like all of its cinematic and TV progeny.
But at least it means Cavill has a new gig, and one he absolutely will be committed to.
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s ‘The Witcher.’ Photo: Jay Maidment.
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But in case you think this spells doom for the entire franchise, take heart because it keeps expanding. Case in point: the teaser for limited series prequel spin-off ‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’.
Unlike animated adventure ‘Nightmare of the Wolf’, this live-action adventure will fully connect to the ‘Witcher’ universe already established, though it’s set in an elven world 1200 years before the world of the main show. ‘Blood Origin’ will tell a story lost to time – the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal conjunction of the spheres, when the world of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.
The four-part series is being overseen by showrunner and writer Declan de Barra, with Sarah O’Gorman and Vicky Jewson sharing directing duties. ‘Witcher’ developer and showrunner Lauren Hissrich is an executive producer here.
A definite highlight is having Michelle Yeoh as Scían, a sword master, the last of her tribe, who is key to the story. And with the star of ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ – who has a long history in action movies to go with her dramatic side – leading the cast, this is a series we’re looking forward to.
Michelle Yeoh as Scian in Netflix’s ‘‘The Witcher: Blood Origin.’
Sophia Brown and Laurence O’Fuarain, meanwhile, play Éile and Fjall, two warriors estranged from their opposing clans. Mirren Mack is Princess Merwy, Francesca Mills appears as Meldof, Zach Wyatt and Lizzie Annis are celestial twins Syndril and Zacaré, while Huw Novelli is Brother Death.
More intriguing are Lenny Henry (with the British actor having quite the time in fantasy between this, ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’, a voice cameo in ‘The Sandman’ and next year’s upcoming ‘Anansi Boys’) as Chief Sage Balor and Minnie Driver as a Seanchai, a shapeshifting collector of old lore with the abilities to travel between time and worlds. In other words, she’s a tour guide of sorts for those who might need more of an introduction to the ‘Witcher’ universe.
Other supporting cast members include Amy Murray as Balor’s apprentice Fenrik, Mark Rowley as King Alvitir, Daniel Fathers and Faoileann Cunningham as Osfar and his daughter Ryl. Kim Adis is Merwyn’s handmaid Ket, Nathaniel Curtis portrays Brían, Dylan Moran is Uthrok One-Nut and Hebe Beardsall is the lowborn Catrin. Ella Schrey-Yeats portrays the young prophet Ithlinne and her mother Aevenien is played by Claire Cooper.
‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’ arrives on Netflix on December 25th, so it’ll count as a holiday gift to fans of the show.
(L to R) Michelle Yeoh as Scian, Sophia Brown as Éile, and Laurence O’Fuarain as Fjall in Netflix’s ‘‘The Witcher: Blood Origin.’‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’ arrives on Netflix on December 25th.
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s ‘The Witcher.’ Photo: Susie Allnutt.
It’s a good news/bad news situation for fans of ‘The Witcher’, and for fans of Henry Cavill in particular.
Because Netflix has announced that the fantasy series will be back for a fourth season. That’s the good news.
The bad? Cavill will no longer be playing main character Geralt of Rivia. In a surprising move, the character is not being killed off, nor is Netflix taking the opportunity to cancel the show (not surprising given that it’s one of the streamer’s most popular series).
Instead, Liam Hemsworth will finally realize the sort of warrior role he was denied when another Hemsworth – Chris – scored ‘Thor’ back in 2011. He’s stepping into Cavill’s armor.
“My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season 4,” Cavill said in a statement on Instagram. “In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men. Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find.”
Hemsworth, meanwhile, was suitably enthusiastic about the new gig in his own social media statement…
“As a ‘Witcher’ fan I’m over the moon about the opportunity to play Geralt of Rivia,” he says. “Henry Cavill has been an incredible Geralt, and I’m honored that he’s handing me the reins and allowing me to take up the White Wolf’s blades for the next chapter of his adventure. Henry, I’ve been a fan of yours for years and was inspired by what you brought to this beloved character. I may have some big boots to fill, but I’m truly excited to be stepping into ‘The Witcher’ world.”
(L to R) Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth in 2010’s ‘The Last Song.’
Cavill has played Geralt, stern slayer of supernatural creatures since the show launched in 2019. ‘The Witcher’ itself is a story of the intertwined destinies of three individuals in the vast world of The Continent, where humans, elves, witchers, gnomes, and monsters battle to survive and thrive, and where good and evil is not easily identified. The show also stars Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan.
And while fans will have to wait until summer 2023 to see Cavill take his final stab/slash etc. at the role for Season 3, a spin-off is on the way before that.
The decision to depart ‘The Witcher’ comes as Cavill’s movie career continues to expand in healthy directions, and he has plenty of future work on his plate. And here, we’ll offer a spoiler alert in case you haven’t seen a recent big movie.
Plans are a little less clear beyond that, though we do know that Warner Bros. Discovery has a follow-up to ‘Man of Steel’ at the script stage, which would certainly be a big way to bring his take on Krypton’s famous son back in even bigger fashion.
He’ll also most likely interact with other DC heroes, assuming there is any sort of team-up movie planned by incoming DC Studios CEOsJames Gunn and Peter Safran.
Henry Cavill Officially Returning as Superman.
Beyond the Man of Steel, there are other jobs he’s busy with.
There’s a further connection to a just-announced job, as he’ll be back in spy territory for Guy Ritchie’s next film.
The director has Cavill and ‘Baby Driver’s Eiza González starring in ‘The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare’, a World War II action adventure. The script, by Ritchie and Arash Amel, is based on war correspondent and military historian Damien Lewis’ popular book of the same name.
The movie, inspired by real events, will chart British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s and James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s secret World War II combat organization. The clandestine squad’s unconventional and entirely ‘ungentlemanly’ fighting techniques against the Nazis helped change the course of the war and in part gave birth to the modern Black Ops unit.
Cavill will play the leader of the secret combat organization, while González, most recently seen in Michael Bay’s ‘Ambulance’, is a military sniper with extraordinary spy craft abilities.
Ritchie, as with Vaughn, is hoping this one might spawn a new film franchise, and according to Deadline, the cast around the main pair will be filled with colorful characters, bringing to mind Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’.
Despite the presence of power producer Jerry Bruckheimer behind the scenes, Ritchie’s latest hasn’t had the easiest journey to screens – in development at Paramount originally (where Bruckheimer has a longstanding deal), the studio has opted not to move forward with the movie, and financiers Black Bear will have the distribution rights up sale at next month’s American Film Market.
No doubt Ritchie will be keeping in mind the last time he tried to launch a spy franchise with Cavill as one of the leads and is hoping that this one has better luck than ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ in 2015.
He was also probably hoping that this would be the biggest Cavill news to happen along this weekend, but Netflix (and Cavill himself) had other ideas. Still, perhaps Netflix will look to keep its relationship with the actor strong and swoop in to add this to their roster of splashy, star-lead spy thrillers including the likes of ‘The Gray Man’ and ‘Extraction’.
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s ‘The Witcher.’ Photo: Jay Maidment.
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If you were impressed with Henry Cavill’s “arm gun reload” in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” stand back for his extra-pumped reveal in the first trailer for Netflix fantasy series “The Witcher.”
Cavill stars as monster hunter Geralt of Rivia who wields a mean sword and is handy with a rope. It’s based on the writings of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski (and not the video games it also inspired, according to SyFy.)
In the trailer, we also meet the show’s other main characters.: Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, a sorceress and Geralt’s lover; and Freya Allan as Ciri, princess of a conquered nation and a potential Witcher herself.
“I’m a big gamer. I’ve played the games a lot,” Cavill told the crowd in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con today. “There was something about Geralt that struck a chord with me. He’s not your average hero. He’s a hard exterior, real-world type person and at the same time, deep down, he’s a real hero.”
Cavill also revealed that he did his own stunts for the series. “It’s very important for me that you know it’s Geralt and it’s not some guy doing Geralt stuff but it’s me in there,” he told the audience before showing a clip of his character cutting through a throng of armored soldiers.
Allan said of her character, “She’s had a very sheltered upbringing and as a result she’s incredibly naive to what the real world is. A huge part of her journey is putting herself in other people’s shoes. It’s clear from the start that she has this might and drive but she has to find a new kind of drive to look past the horrific things she sees. It’s a journey of discovery.”
No official release date has yet been announced for the series, only that it’s “coming soon.”
Netflix released a set of first look images from the upcoming fantasy series, which stars Henry Cavill in the title role. The streamer also announced that they are bringing the show to San Diego Comic-Con on July 19. The Hall H panel will be moderated by Yvette Nicole Brown (“Community”) and feaure cast members Henry Cavill (Geralt), Anya Cholatra (Yennefer), and Freya Allan (Ciri) as well as showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich.
The series is an adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s bestselling novels, which tell the story of “witchers,” hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle deadly monsters.
Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia is a solitary witcher who is struggling to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.
Henry Cavill is sporting a completely new look — and it’s not for Halloween.
Netflix released the first look at the actor in its upcoming fantasy series, “The Witcher.” The photo and video snippet show Cavill wearing a long silver wig to play protagonist Geralt.
Netflix
The series is an adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s bestselling novels, which tell the story of “witchers,” hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle deadly monsters.
Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia is a solitary witcher who is struggling to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.
Netflix also confirmed the rest of the show’s cast, which includes Freya Allan (“The War of the Worlds”) as Ciri, Anya Chalotra (“The ABC Murders”) as Yennefer, Jodhi May (“Game of Thrones”) as Calanthe, Eamon Farren (“Twin Peaks”) as Cahir, Joey Batey (Knightfall) as Jaskier, and Lars Mikkelsen (“House of Cards”) as Stregobor.
The “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” actor is set to star in the fantasy saga “The Witcher,” an adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels.
The books focus on “witchers,” hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle deadly monsters. The bestselling books have also been adapted into a successful video game franchise.
Cavill will play Geralt of Rivia, a solitary witcher who is struggling to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.
This marks Cavill’s return to television. Before starring in movies like “Man of Steel” and “Justice League,” he played Charles Brandon in Showtime’s “The Tudors.”
