Hmm. Geralt is not a man of many words – at least in the games and in the hit Netflix series. That’s something lead Henry Cavill wants to change in The Witcher season 2.
Cavill recently spoke to SFX magazine ahead of the new issue, which features The Witcher on the cover, and made clear that Geralt is going to be a little different when the new series hits the streamer on December 17.
"For this season, I wanted to push really hard to make sure he was more verbose," Cavill says. For him, that means less grunting and fewer f-bombs.
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"There’s always the risk of a character becoming a bit tropey and just comedic by grunting and saying the F-word, and not being representative of the talent of [The Witcher series author Andrzej Sapkowski]. Again, I really worked very hard to make him more intellectual, have an expanded vocabulary and be representative of a guy 70-plus years old."
The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has also underlined the changes Geralt’s character will go through this season, particularly as it pertains to his new connection with his Child of Surprise, Ciri (Freya Allan), and his fellow witchers as Kaer Morhen.
"In season one, Geralt is a person who is convinced he doesn’t need anyone else, certainly not in the long term," Hissrich says. "As a Witcher, as a monster hunter, he doesn’t want to have those connections. Geralt feels like they weaken him."
As Hissrich teases, that’s all about to change in the upcoming season.
"In season two, we throw all of those connections at him. To me, the most exciting thing is seeing this solitary guy learn to become a father. Seeing what he thought he would be good at, and what he thought would be easy, and how that’s challenged… For Geralt, it’s about finding surprising levels of warmth and empathy that I think all of us know were there."
For more on The Witcher season 2, be sure to pick up a copy of the new SFX Magazine, out Wednesday, December 1, and available to order online.
