Now that the dust has settled on Henry Cavill’s shock departure from The Witcher and Liam Hemsworth being announced as his replacement, viewers are looking to find out what other cast members think.
Already, we know that Henry stepped down — officially — because of his role in the Superman franchise. He revealed this via an Instagram post that broke the news of his departure.
However, there is certainly speculation that the star did so because he didn’t like the direction Netflix was taking with the epic fantasy series.
Liam Hemsworth has also remained tight-lipped about his new role, only issuing one statement, which was also via his own Instagram account.
And while some people are shocked that Liam was the replacement, it has been made known that he was always a contender — even before Henry claimed the role.
Now, Joey Batey, who plays the bestie to Geralt of Rivia, Jaskier, has spoken out about the change in actors.
The Witcher actor Joey Batey will miss Henry Cavill
According to Redanian Intelligence, Joey Batey will greatly miss Henry Cavill.
“I spoke to Henry last week, we text a fair bit,” Batey said.
“He’s a very good friend. I sent him a message just saying how much everyone in the show would miss him, myself more so than most because Henry and I are very good pals and we’ve spent the past four years carving out these stories.”
Batey and Cavill have a definite chemistry onscreen that will be sorely missed by fans who loved the long-suffering Geralt, who put up with the doting Jaskier through two seasons of The Witcher.
And, while Batey and Cavill may be close friends outside of work, there was certainly no malice towards his replacement.
Joey Batey welcomes Liam Hemsworth to the fold
“I reached out to [Liam Hemsworth] and said, ‘Welcome,’” Batey revealed.
“The strength in him and the bravery to come and join a show like this, like halfway through is unbelievable and I hope that everyone know[s] the commitment that he’s already showing to these incredibly big boots he has to fill.”
Batey also pointed out that Hemsworth is very dedicated to his new role in The Witcher.
“He’s diving headfirst into this and taking it so seriously with his research and training and things like that. We’ll miss Henry an awful lot, but Liam’s gonna bring something new and fresh and different to it,” Batey added.
All of this was originally revealed by Batey in a video interview that was shared on social media, which has since been deleted.
However, devoted fans might still be able to track down the video clip on Twitter as many people have since reshared it.
Season 2 of The Witcher is currently available to stream on Netflix.