‘The Witcher’ Season 4 is here: Liam Hemsworth’s debut, full cast list, and what early reactions say about the show’s “refresh”

The Continent has a new White Wolf. The Witcher Season 4 premiered October 30, 2025 on Netflix, marking Liam Hemsworth’s first turn as Geralt of Rivia after Henry Cavill closed out the role in Season 3. Filmed back-to-back with the fifth and final season, this chapter adapts the late-series novels and pushes Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri onto diverging paths as war redrafts the map.

Release details and episode plan

All eight episodes of Season 4 are now available worldwide. Season 5—already shot—will complete the saga in 2026, with dates to be announced. The new season keeps the show’s long-episode format (mostly 55–70 minutes) and places big, self-contained monster hunts inside a broader political and personal endgame.

The Witcher Season 4 cast: who’s back, who’s new

• Geralt of Rivia — Liam Hemsworth (debut season)

• Yennefer of Vengerberg — Anya Chalotra

• Cirilla “Ciri” — Freya Allan

• Jaskier — Joey Batey

• Regis — Laurence Fishburne (new)

• Vesemir — Peter Mullan (recast)

• Triss Merigold — Anna Shaffer

• Fringilla Vigo — Mimi Ndiweni

• Tissaia’s circle & mages — returning faces across the conclaves

• Nilfgaardian court — Emhyr and advisers expanded for the war arc

• New antagonists & witchers — a handful of novel-loyal additions tied to Ciri’s pursuers

Expect a larger traveling company around Geralt, reflecting the books’ found-family road narrative.

Why Henry Cavill left—and how the handover plays

Cavill’s exit was announced years ago; Season 4 is the first on screen without him. Publicly, the move was framed as a professional pivot to other projects. Production used the gap to re-tone the series: Geralt remains stoic, but the new portrayal adds drier humor, quicker dialogue beats, and a slightly more verbal style in camp-fire strategy scenes. The swords still sing; the difference is in cadence rather than category.

Early reaction: steadier plotting, a different Geralt

First-wave sentiment has coalesced around three points:

1. Plot coherence: The season tightens geography and cause-and-effect after a sprawling Season 3, making it easier to track who wants what and why.

2. Ciri and Yennefer keep the heart: Scenes centered on Ciri’s survival education and Yennefer’s political maneuvers are standouts.

3. Hemsworth’s Geralt works best in motion: The performance leans on physicality, timing, and partner chemistry; long, silent brooding is used more sparingly.

Story shape (no spoilers): three roads into one storm

• Geralt adopts a more tactical witcher-in-the-wild role: monster contracts double as intelligence-gathering missions, and his “company” grows by necessity, not sentimentality.

• Yennefer rebuilds her influence while confronting the cost of magical realpolitik.

• Ciri confronts identity and agency as multiple factions seek to weaponize her lineage.

Season 4’s theme is whether chosen bonds can hold when power and prophecy try to pry them apart.

How the action looks and feels

Fight geography is clearer, favoring practical stunt work and readable blade exchanges over noise. Monsters skew folkloric and uncanny rather than purely CGI-brutish, with several set pieces built around problem-solving instead of straight brawls—poisons, traps, terrain, and teamwork.

Five quick things fans keep asking

Is Season 4 the last?
No. Season 5 ends the main series; production is complete.

Do I need a rewatch?
Not mandatory. A refresher on Season 3’s final three episodes helps, particularly around the rifts and shifting allegiances.

Does the show follow the books more closely now?
The spine tracks the late novels more tightly while retaining some show-original detours.

How different is Geralt?
The accent and physical presence are familiar enough; the key change is tone—a touch more verbal and reactive in ensemble scenes, still laconic on the road.

What about Vesemir?
The character returns with a new actor and limited but important screen time tied to the witcher ranks’ future.

Should you watch The Witcher Season 4?

If you bounced off Season 3’s sprawl, this is a clean re-entry: the quest lines are crisp, the politics are legible, and the monster hunts carry narrative weight. If you adored the original Geralt and only want a perfect impression, Season 4 won’t be that; it’s a reinterpretation that aims for continuity of spirit rather than mimicry. Either way, the season is a confident stride toward the endgame—less meandering, more purposeful, and punctuated by set pieces that feel earned.

What’s next

With Season 4 live, attention turns to the already-filmed Season 5, positioned as the series finale and expected to arrive in 2026. The final run completes the adaptation of the closing trilogy of novels and promises the long-awaited reckoning among Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and the forces reshaping the Continent.

The Witcher Season 4 arrives as a tonal refresh with a new lead, a tightened plot, and a clear runway to the finish. Different Geralt, familiar stakes—and a story finally moving like it means to get somewhere.