New Witcher report claims Henry Cavil was looking to leave show after season 2

The Witcher
(Image credit: Netflix)

A new report claims that Henry Cavill's surprise departure from Netflix's The Witcher might not have been a surprise after all.

Redanian Intelligence, a website dedicated to reporting exclusively on the hit Netflix show, claims that Cavill was looking to leave as early as season 2.

Allegedly, Cavill was considering leaving the series after the second season because he and the producers “weren’t seeing eye to eye” in terms of content and Geralt’s overall role in the show. However, it was reported in 2021 that the actor had renewed his contract and would be getting a salary upgrade of $1 million per episode, more than double his original salary of $400k (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Some speculate that Cavill's return as Superman in the DCEU is the cause for this exit. According to Dwayne Johnson, that return has been six years in the making, but he and the Black Adam team were repeatedly told no by the previous Warner Bros management. The actor appeared in Black Adam's post-credit scene in his full Superman garb for the first time since 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which shocked viewers and DC fans alike.

Now that James Gunn is in charge of DC Studios, Man of Steel 2 is reportedly in the works and currently in search of writers (per The Hollywood Reporter). It's possible that Cavill's exit is due to either a scheduling conflict, or a conflict of contracts – with the actor signing on to make more than one future appearance in the DCEU.

For more, check out our roundup of the best new TV shows coming to your screen in 2022 and beyond.

Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.