The Witcher Season 4 is coming to Netflix on October 20, 2025.
Will I watch it? I don’t know. Right now, I’m leaning towards a firm ‘No’. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the teaser trailer they released a few days ago. It does not tell you anything about the season.
But the action scene was impeccable, showing off Geralt’s combat skills and use of signs, which we did not get enough of in previous seasons. However, after watching three seasons with Henry Cavill as Geralt, the transition to Liam Hemsworth is not working for me.
I don’t care about the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding Henry’s departure from the role. Maybe the writers are man-hating weirdos who deliberately ejected him from the series. Or maybe he just wanted to do other things. I really don’t care.
Even if I push all that noise aside, Liam’s look does not work for me. I can’t see myself giving him a fair shake. I will inevitably compare him to Henry. From what I saw of the comments under the teaser trailer on YouTube, I am not alone.
Many viewers have already expressed their intention to boycott the show out of solidarity with Henry Cavill, although I don’t think he cares one way or the other. But even before the Henry/ Liam drama surfaced, diehard fans of this franchise had already soured on the show because of the significant changes it kept making.
I partially agree with the sentiment. I’m still puzzled over the show’s portrayal of the other witchers, most of whom feel incredibly weak and helpless compared to Geralt. Then again, it is worth noting that The Witcher on Netflix is attempting to adapt Andrzej Sapkowski’s books.
It takes viewers back to the start of Geralt’s adventures in the books. The video game series is a non-canon sequel to the novels. Here is a fascinating spoiler. Geralt and Yennefer die at the end of Sapkowski’s books.
The video games explain how the pair survived. Then it takes the couple on a brand new adventure that Sapkowski did not write. In that regard, comparing the video games to the Netflix live-action TV show makes no sense. They are telling two completely different stories.
More importantly, the video games are not entirely blameless in this area. They also took components from the book and changed them. For example, Geralt in the novels isn’t a buff, handsome, bearded badass that speaks in grunts.
Sakpowski’s Geralt is lean, wiry, and broody with an ugly smile. His general appearance repels people. The character in the books is less terse and more philosophical. While video game Geralt spends his days killing monsters en masse, book Geralt is quite poor.
He struggles to find work because monsters are rare. And even when he lands a contract, the pay is meagre. Yennefer in the books is not as cold or guarded. She is so close to Ciri that the pair call each other mother and daughter.
The Triss/Geralt relationship does not exist. Triss loves Geralt, but the feeling is not mutual. I could go on, but you get the point. If you have given the video games a pass for making changes to the source material, you should do the same for the TV show.
Treat these three properties as separate entities. Judge them on their own merit. You should hate The Witcher Season 4 because it was a bad season, not because it failed to recreate the video games or even the novels. Be fair.
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