It’s been two years since season 3 of Netflix’s The Witcher, and given that the fantasy epic is packed with colorful characters and complicated lore, fans were always going to need a refresher to get back up to speed. Rather than putting together a conventional “previously on” montage, however, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich put the recap in-universe: The Witcher season 4 opens with a scene set a century after the show’s events, with a man reading the story of Geralt of Rivia to a group of children.
Flash-forwards depicting characters putting their own spin on the plot are common in Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher books. The season 4 intro follows that tradition by demonstrating how Geralt’s regular traveling companion, the bard Jaskier (Joey Batey), embellished some of the tales the show previously depicted. There are a lot more kikimora in a reprise of a fight from the series premiere, but the biggest change is the actor playing Geralt.
The retelling of the story inserts Liam Hemsworth in place of Henry Cavill, who left the show after season 3. Hemsworth has been placed in key scenes depicting his tumultuous relationship with the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and how the couple adopted Princess Cirilla of Cintra (Freya Allan). Those were the first scenes the three shot together.
“We had a lot of laughs. It was just so odd seeing each other in costume, a new trio in a way.” Chalotra said in a Zoom roundtable attended by Polygon. “We all felt like we were in dress-up in some way. We’ve all moved on from that.”
The awkwardness didn’t last long.
“It’s a huge thing to come on in the fourth season and take on this incredibly complex role, both as Geralt and the guy who leads the show,” Chalotra said. “Because of that, I was surprised about how calm and safe I really felt with Liam, and as Yennefer with Geralt. There was a real ease. It was just so natural.”
The series recap also shows the sorcerer Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) nearly killing Geralt at the end of season 3. This moment was particularly helpful for Hemsworth in figuring out how to play the character in a way that felt both believable and new.
Photo: Susie Allnut/Netflix
“There’s a lot of doubt, a lot of frustration,” Hemsworth said. “He’s severely injured, and it’s a place that I don’t think Geralt has been in much in his life. When it does actually get into moments where he can react to a situation, I wanted it to feel a little unhinged, and not as calculated as he normally would be — not as collected as he normally would be. I wanted those fight scenes in the beginning of the journey to feel reactive, and it’s a chance for him to get out his frustration.”
Before The Witcher, Hemsworth had mostly acted in movies like The Hunger Games and Independence Day: Resurgence. He found starring in a TV show significantly more difficult.
“You’re dealing with eight different scripts at a time, as opposed to one singular script, and the changing of directors every two episodes is something that I’m not used to,” he said. “As an actor, you need to take a little more responsibility in the continuity of your journey, and not in an ego way, but in a way where you have to inform the next director of what we actually shot last week and how it played out and where I’m at emotionally, because the next director might not have been there for that.”
Season 4 was shot back-to-back with the show’s fifth and final season, and Hemsworth says the biggest challenge he faced taking on the role of Geralt was getting enough sleep during the extended shoot.
“There are long days. A lot of it is physical, but it’s a marathon.”
The Witcher season 4 premieres on Netflix on Oct. 30.
