Get your first look at Henry Cavill in The Witcher! pic.twitter.com/1O2eWS1MkP
— Netflix (@netflix) October 31, 2018
Netflix fittingly chose Halloween as the occasion to reveal Henry Cavill’s very Halloween costume-like appearance in upcoming fantasy series The Witcher. Twitter users had plenty to say about this version of Geralt of Rivia, things like, “This is a spot-on Geralt from The Witcher, if a Witcher was what you called a guy who sells sex crystals at a vampire store in Los Angeles.”
To be fair, the Netflix series is based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski, not on the older, bearded, grizzled video game version of Geralt from Witcher 3 people may have had in mind. Some have also complained about his eye color, but Geralt’s eye color in the books changed based on his surroundings and at his will. Furthermore, a TV series based on The Witcher should be utterly batsh*t and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Dramatic key lighting? Yes please. Faux leather everything? Don’t mind if you do. Ridiculous wigs? Oh hell yes. Each wig longer and whiter than the last. And braid it. So many braids. Even give the horses fabulous white wigs with braids. We won’t complain about any of the references to Polish politics we don’t understand as long as we have wizards in wigs being dramatic all over the place.
Anyway, folks on Twitter had plenty of jokes about Cavill’s appearance, with comparisons to cosplay and Halloween costumes being a popular source of humor. Some likened Netflix’s Geralt to “Legolas cosplaying Sephiroth,” while others had different costumes in mind:
— mr. “just joined a new forum” (@Papapishu) October 31, 2018
"Oh, cool, Henry Cavill is doing Geralt for Halloween, didn't know he was a Witcher fan."
"He's in the Netflix version. That's the production costume and wig."
"Ohhhhhh noooooooo"— Dan Olson (@FoldableHuman) October 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/AppNasty/status/1057741411481780233
First look at Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia. pic.twitter.com/out3Am0Jph
— Andy Kelly (@ultrabrilliant) October 31, 2018
Why does Matt Mercer's Halloween costume look better than the official Netflix Geralt pic.twitter.com/hsAnXHLHsm
— Nora Blake (@skulldaughter) October 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/SarahNEmerson/status/1057648130466828293
Comparisons to other movie characters were frequent fodder for jokes:
The Witcher (2018) pic.twitter.com/By12QWAYHy
— ALERTE TROUILLET INFO 24H (@Trouillet_) October 31, 2018
Henry Cavill in The Witcher series (2019) pic.twitter.com/Wj8NX9Uu46
— Bruno Araujo (@brunocracia) October 31, 2018
BREAKING: Budget Cuts Have Forced The Witcher Series To Recast Using Only Outtakes of Christopher Lambert From 1995's Mortal Kombat. pic.twitter.com/dCeiFQvmve
— News Broke (@news_broke) October 31, 2018
The Witcher (2018) pic.twitter.com/CX2aqQOOeO
— Valentin Cebo (@Noddus_) October 31, 2018
— Stafford Lyons (@stafford_lyons) October 31, 2018
Get your first look at Henry Cavill in The Witcher! pic.twitter.com/iM9FbBdShA
— The Discourse Lover (@Trillburne) October 31, 2018
ugh this new Witcher TV series looks like shit pic.twitter.com/I70p18xXKS
— 🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌 (@immolations) October 31, 2018
The comparisons continued, although the more important question here should be: Why does that Power Ranger look like Jennifer Garner?
https://twitter.com/rockcock64/status/1057658984918855681
Henry cavill in #TheWitcher pic.twitter.com/mIjrKflj9v
— Rafa Peter 🔱 (@barrapeter00) October 31, 2018
Others imagined what it would be like if Netflix’s The Witcher were based on the video games instead of the books:
https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/1057765383371874304
https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/1057754146692972544
And one resourceful person ran it backwards for a great reaction GIF:
https://twitter.com/Pizza_Suplex/status/1057677573231206401
(Hat tip to Dorkly)