The Witcher’s lead, Geralt of Rivia, is not exactly known for being a wholesome character. It is not that he is not intelligent or a total feral. He is wise and mature enough to stay occupied with his matters. However, being a monster hunter by profession does require him to use his muscularity more than his brains. 

Cavill’s inclination towards portraying a wise Geralt

Although, The Witcher Season 2 might display an entirely new side of Geralt. Premiering on Netflix in December, the series has been busy with promotions. Witcher’s lead Henry Cavill revealed to Total Film (via GamesRadar) how he pushed the creators to give the character more depth. The actor not only wanted Geralt to be more than just biceps and swords but also to make sure that the story stayed true to its source material. In our opinion, this input was quite reasonable. 

“This season, I wanted to make sure that we represented the book’s Geralt more accurately, and that we saw him speak more,” Cavill said. “I pushed hard for that.”

This in no way means that his character is up against Jaskier when it comes to screen time. “He’s still Geralt of Rivia, but he’s coming across as more of an intellectual,” Cavill also added.

We are not very accustomed to The Witcher novels and short stories. At least not as much as Cavill is. But Geralt’s more enlightened and sophisticated self is portrayed heavily in The Witcher 3, as well. To support the fact, we have an excerpt from a journal entry. This is from the Avid Collector side quest in the Hearts of Stone expansion. Here, Geralt swishes amongst the elite to buy some fine art. And the entry is quite explicit about it:

“Geralt is often taken for a boor. Nothing could be further from the truth: Though rough-and-rowdy in outer appearance, inside Geralt harbors a sensitive appreciation of beauty and the arts.”

Not only this, but the games also depict Geralt as some sort of a wine connoisseur and a quiet romantic.

Showrunner Hissrich adding weight to the topic

These comments by Cavill about taking a more intellectual stand for Geralt go in parallel with showrunner Lauren Hissrich’s remarks. In October, Hissrich revealed that the second season “plumbs completely new emotional depths for Geralt—as lost love, as a father, as a son, as a brother, as a Witcher. It’s a delight to see.”

Henry Cavill does seem to always take his roles seriously. Because he also disclosed that he spent a portion of his free time during the Covid-19 lockdown on A Witcher 3 Deathmarch run. “I decided to put it on the hardest difficulty possible to play, which I’ve done before, and it was quite stressful!” the actor said. “I forgot quite how stressful it was.”

The Witcher Season 2 is scheduled to release on Netflix on December 17. The show will feature its leads traveling to Kaer Morhen. Also, a good number of new faces will be included, like Geralt’s fellow witchers Vesemir, Eskel, and Lambert.