The Witcher season four trailer hit YouTube with a cataclysmic thud. Just four days after its release the trailer had 79k downvotes and only 24k upvotes. That ratio has since grown to 25K likes to a staggering 106K dislikes.
The dislike ratio for The Witcher Season 4 as of September 18, 2025 at 11:33 p.m. – YouTube, Netflix
What should have excited fans for the return of Geralt of Rivia after a two-year absence, instead has them recoiling. Season one’s trailer from 2020 has 535k upvotes and 19k downvotes. Obviously, something has changed.
What The Witcher Season 4 Trailer Reveals
Rather than attempting to disguise the fact that Liam Hemsworth has taken over for Henry Cavill as Geralt, The Witcher season 4 trailer opens with a closeup on the new actor. Geralt is reciting a poem as he prepares to fight a wraith, and the one-minute, thirty-seven-second trailer focuses entirely on their battle.
On its own, there’s nothing inherently wrong. The CGI looks fine, the music is reminiscent of the video games and previous seasons, and Hemsworth more or less looks the part of Geralt.
Liam Hemsworth as Geralt in ‘THE WITCHER’ Season 4. pic.twitter.com/HF7I5IZbXo
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 14, 2025
But he doesn’t look or sound like Henry Cavill.
The Passing of the Swords
Cavill, widely seen as iconic in the role, walked away from the show after season three. Initially enthusiastic about portraying Geralt, in 2021 he told The Hollywood Reporter he’d gladly stay on for seven seasons, “as long as we can keep telling great stories which honor
Sapkowski’s work.”Cavill’s love for the world of the books and video games is well-documented, and he wanted to remain true to the source material.
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher (2023), Netflix
But it was evident as early as season two that the showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich wanted to take things in a different direction. As Screenrant noted, “The Witcher season 2’s ending went in a very different direction to Sapkowski’s books, complete with a main villain—the Deathless Mother—who doesn’t appear in the novels at all.” Perhaps Cavill was able to justify staying on, believing it was still in the spirit of the author’s work. But before the release of the third season, he announced he was leaving.
View this post on Instagram
In a post on Instagram, Cavill wrote: “My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season 4. In my stead, the fantastic Mr Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf.”
The deviation from the source material has not gone unnoticed by fans, leaving Hemsworth in a thankless role. Users on X haven’t hesitated to let Netflix know exactly how they feel.
1. You already had a perfect Geralt, anything else is a poor imitation.
2. You deviated so far from the source material you lost my interest in anything you would ever write. Your writing was far worse.
— Richard W. Byers (@RichardWByers) September 14, 2025
The Witcher season 4 trailer is our first chance to decide if Hemsworth can handle the mantle.
Hemsworth Steps Out in The Witcher Season 4 Trailer
So far, fan reaction has been less than enthusiastic.
Is that Geralt of Temu?
— Khadriel (@Khadriel1) September 14, 2025
READ: Ghost of Yotei Now Facing Boycott From Right AND Left After Drew Harrison Charlie Kirk Controversy
A top comment on the YouTube video simply says, “The switcher.” Another top comment observes, “Liam pulling heart out of the wraith. quite symbolic of what producers did to the show.”
In fact, the majority of the criticism online is focused less on Hemsworth and more on the creative choices.
Nah, not saying he will be bad. Just saying anybody that will continue on with those writers doesn’t care about the writing…..
— _flyingpiranha_ (@FLYINGPIRANHA_) September 14, 2025
If those creative choices drove Cavill away, they may now be driving fans away too.
Conclusion
As stated in the trailer, The Witcher season four will arrive on Netflix on October 30th. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich has overseen the eight episodes. Unfortunately, the YouTube ratio and reaction posts on X suggest that The Witcher season 4 is not entering with much goodwill.
Will you be watching The Witcher season 4 after seeing the trailer? Let us know in the comments!
