Henry Cavill’s Biggest Attraction to Playing Geralt of Rivia in ‘The Witcher’ Is the Same Quality That Makes Him Polar Opposite to Superman

Actor Henry Cavill is best known for playing the role of Clark Kent / Superman in the DCEU. While the actor’s turn as the last son of Krypton was tumultuous, to say the least, Cavill remains one of the fan-favorite actors to don the iconic red and blue suit. However, he is equally renowned for the role of Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s The Witcher.

Henry Cavill played Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher (Credit: Netflix).

During an interview, Cavill discussed his love for The Witcher‘s source material and admitted to being a fan of the games and books. At the same time, Cavill also revealed the biggest factor that attracted him to the role and it is the polar opposite of what Superman is known for. Here is why Cavill was interested in playing Gerlat in The Witcher.

Henry Cavill revealed the biggest reason he was attracted to playing Geralt in The Witcher

Henry Cavill was cast in the role of Geralt of Rivia for the first season of Netflix’s adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher novels. Cavill played the role for three seasons before departing the series due to alleged creative differences.

Henry Cavill is a fan of The Witcher games (Credit: Netflix).

During an appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con, Cavill discussed stepping into the shoes of Geralt, a magically enhanced monster hunter with a rough exterior. Cavill admitted to already being a fan of the games, which made him covet the role.

I played the games a lot. There was something about Geralt that really struck a chord with me, he’s not your average hero… he won’t treat everyone perfectly, and at the same time, deep down, he’s a real hero.

Cavill made the above statement (Via The Gamer), revealing why he felt Geralt wasn’t a typical hero.

The actor underlined how the character did not have a clear moral compass, which made him fun to play while differentiating Geralt from the more clean-cut hero characters such as Superman. As a result, unlike his other most popular role which is the textbook definition of a hero, Cavill was attracted to playing Geralt because of the character’s moral ambiguity.

Henry Cavill on what made his Superman so different from other versions

Speaking of Cavill’s Superman, while the iconic DC superhero is a beacon of hope and pillar of morality, the DCEU version of the character certainly strayed a little too far from these fundamental elements. Instead, Cavill’s Superman, introduced in Man of Steel, was more of an outsider than a savior of humanity.

Henry Cavill’s Superman was always meant to be an outsider (Credit: Man of Steel | Warner Bros).

In an interview with GO POP ahead of his debut as Superman, Cavill talked about what made his version of the iconic comic book hero different. The actor stated:

If we genuinely discovered an alien amongst us, how would we react? And more importantly, how would that alien feel? Especially if his responsibility was actually looking after the world, because if we discovered that it would turn us on our head.

From Cavill’s words, it is evident that the focus of his take on Superman was to show the character as a relative outsider struggling to cope with his responsibilities towards his home planet and adopted homeworld.

Ultimately, Cavill’s tenure as Geralt and Superman came to an end with the actor being recast in both roles. Liam Hemsworth was cast as Geralt for the show’s upcoming fourth and fifth seasons. Meanwhile, David Corenswet was cast to play Superman in James Gunn’s upcoming DCU reboot.