The Witcher's "meta" transition from Cavill to Hemsworth's Geralt will be "flawless"

The transition from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth's Geralt in Netflix's The Witcher show will be "flawless", and draw on a "meta" explanation inspired by the series' original books.

That's according to the series' executive producer Tomek Baginski, who has discussed the upcoming third season of the show - the last to star Henry Cavill as the protagonist - in an interview with Yahoo News, where the shift to Hemsworth for future seasons was mentioned.

Story spoilers for The Witcher book series and games follow.

The Witcher: Season 3 | Volume 1 | Netflix

"We have a very, very good plan to introduce our new Geralt and our new vision for Geralt with Liam," said Baginski.

"Not going deeply into those ideas because this will be a huge spoiler, [but] it's also very, very close to the meta ideas which are deeply embedded in the books, especially in book five."

Baginski appears to be referring to the events of author Andrzej Sapkowski's fifth novel in the series: The Lady of the Lake.

By this point, Ciri has developed inter-dimensional powers (as fans of The Witcher 3 will be aware) and this novel is heavily inspired by the story of King Arthur. At the novel's end, Geralt and Yennefer are transported to an unknown location, hinted to be Avalon of Arthurian legend.

This sort of dimension hopping certainly leaves the narrative open for a new Geralt to be found, and could well be the "meta ideas" Baginski has referred to.

"It's very lore accurate," he added. "It's very close to what was set out in the books and I think this change will be quite flawless.

"But at the same time it will be a new Geralt, it will be a new face for this character and I think it will also be very, very exciting to see."

Cavill announced his departure from the show in October last year, alongside confirmation of Hemsworth taking on the role of Geralt.

"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," said Cavill at the time.

"In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam's take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men. Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find."

It's been widely speculated that Cavill was unhappy with the production and disliked that it took liberties with the source material.

If, as Baginski's comments suggest, the fourth season will be based on the (chronologically) final novel in The Witcher saga, it's unclear where the narrative will move to next.