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It's been a few months since we learned The Witcher Netflix series would cast Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, and Netflix has celebrated the beginning of production by sharing its first look at the actor in full Witcher-ing regalia. Doing one better than your typical set photo, we get to see Cavill striding up to the camera, giving us a meaningful look, and quaffing a Witcher potion all in a brief (and presumably purpose-made) video clip.
Get your first look at Henry Cavill in The Witcher! pic.twitter.com/1O2eWS1MkPOctober 31, 2018
Update: The studio also confirmed the casting of another significant character in Geralt's story: Anna Shaffer as idealistic sorceress Triss Merigold. Outside of the UK, Shaffer's best known as Romilda Vane in the Harry Potter films, though she also had a regular role on the British soap opera Hollyoaks for several years after that.
The Netflix series is based on The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski rather than the games by CD Projekt Red. Though showrunner Lauren Hissrich is a fan of both, she has said that she deliberately put some space between her production and the games so that her team could cultivate a visual representation of Sapkowski's world all their own. In other words, if you were expecting Cavill to more or less show up in The Witcher 3 cosplay, you were bound to be disappointed.
That said, the look does bear a certain resemblance to other familiar fantasy properties, which Twitter was quick to point out.
pic.twitter.com/haGwmhcUAFOctober 31, 2018
pic.twitter.com/ninFityrzjOctober 31, 2018
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But what do you think?
If you ask me, the problem is 90-percent concentrated around Cavill's eyes. For one, he doesn't have the cat-like pupils that set Witchers - genetically engineered monster killers - apart from normal humans. He also has incongruously dark eyebrows, giving his silver hair an unfortunate "elven king fantasy wig" effect. On top of all that, Cavill doesn't look very grizzled. The dude could definitely stand a few more scars and general weathering to match up with his history as a traveling hunter.
Anyway, full production on The Witcher Netflix series is just starting now, so all of those quibbles still have plenty of time to be addressed. A pair of cat-eyed contact lenses isn't too much to ask for, right?
See where else Geralt's world could be headed with everything there is to know about The Witcher 4.
