Henry Cavill steps down as Geralt (opens in new tab). The Internet is having a very unpleasant time gnashing its teeth, tearing its clothes off, and generally having a very unpleasant time with the news that Netflix's The Witcher TV show will be helmed by Liam Hemsworth starting in Season 4.

A quick look at The Witcher subreddit (opens in new tab) reveals a fanbase that alternates between anger, sadness, and, since this is the Internet, a frenzied psychoanalysis of the people involved, but let's ignore that. The post announcing Cavil's departure received nearly 8,000 comments, and the most appreciative response posted by user cerebralvenom (opens in new tab) sums up nearly all of them: "Well, what was the only saving grace of this program is gone. Others have asked why Netflix hasn't simply cancelled (open in new tab) the show altogether after losing such an important actor (I'm no expert, but I suspect it has something to do with the show's huge success (open in new tab)).

Many fans have given up on the show altogether (open in new tab), or at least claim so. 'Cavil was a great gellert. I also saw Liam Hemsworth's performance. He's not as good as Cavill." There are at least some Hemsworth fans (opens in new tab) who are quite bitter about poor Liam and ambivalent about seeing him in Geralt's shoes.

Of course, it remains to be seen if people will actually stick to this bold declaration. This would not be the first time that fans of a series have declared a boycott and then quietly returned.

Recent news that all of the show's writers did not have much respect for the original "The Witcher" (opens in new tab), and Cavill, who vowed last year to do seven seasons "absolutely" if it "respects the work of (the original "Witcher" author) Anjay Sapkowski (opens in new tab), many are blaming the news on the writing team. It's a bit of a stretch, to say the least. It is entirely possible that Cavill was unhappy with the show for a variety of reasons, but it is also true that big, successful actors must always make sacrifices in order to pursue new opportunities.

Still, on the plus side, the news has generated a superabundance of memes. That's the closest thing to a positive reaction we're seeing online right now.

So Liam Hemsworth, who I confess I mistook for his brother for about an hour, has an uphill battle to be accepted as Geralt. My advice" just spend a lot of time chatting about Warhammer (opens in new tab) and making PC with your shirt off. That seemed to work for Geralt in the past.