This was quick :)

If he really was into and loved the Witcher everything you would have thought he would be champing at the bit to get back into the Witcher (Laim neither has the charisma nor acting shops to carry role off)

He was in to The Witcher. The Netflix show writers were not. They pretty much said that they can do better than the original author and CDPR. They're so much more educated than everyone else.

Why on earth would he want that when he got out due to the producers slaughtering the source material, which he has said time and time again that he loves and respects?

Now he goes into another passion project, but with what appears to be more direct control over the direction it will take. Hopefully it will go better, and he gets to work with people who also love the source material, and won't try to shit all over it.

the corruption.... don't forget about the corruption, it is innate with WH titles

He left the Witcher tv series because he loved the source material and the writers did not. There was also news that he wanted to leave at the end of season 2 because he wasnt seeing eye to eye with producers regarding content and Geralts role (and season 2 shows us why).

https://www.thegamer.com/henry-cavill-reportedly-nearly-left-the-witcher-season-2/

Cavill is rich enough that he can choose to focus on passion projects. Witcher was a passion project but its not now. Why return when the reason why you left hasnt changed?

Also possible he cant go back. Liam has been announced as the replacement and they definitely have a contract for him. Dont think they can up and cancel his contract to get Cavill back (I guess maybe they can buy him out?). Although Im not confident that Witcher has much of a future past season 4. In guessing Netflix approved season 4 but I guess we will see.

If it was anyone else but Amazon, I might have gotten my hopes up for a good 40K show. Now, I'm in the "maybe it won't suck that much" territory and that is exclusively just thanks to Cavill. We can only hope that Amazon lets the guy make a good show and keeps their meddling to a minimum. But considering stuff like this exists:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/dei.amazonstudios.com/inclusion-policy/amp/

I'll remain in my usual state of apathy until it comes out.

Cavill will leave WH40k faster than the Witcher. It's not because of Amazon. Yes, they have this ethical chart, but also it's Amazon, worldwide slavers lead by a musk-level psychopath, so you could expect some level of hypocrisy in their grand moral posturing. Also, The Expanse was okay even after they grabbed it.

But WH40k cannot be adapted, especially not in multiple films of series. It's got to be either niche or very punctual. A one time oddity like Pete Travis' Dread or Verhoeven's Starship Troopers. You simply cannot depict a fascistic world from a fascistic perspective for the general public, because there is no such thing as irony, second degree, self-distanciation in the general public. It will fracture it between those who find fascism unironically badass and those who would denounce the show as full endorsement. There is no room for "it's fun and self-aware in its ideological self-parody".

It will need heroes, it will need good guys, it will need genuine values. WH40k is all about horrible beings fighting each others fanatically, the least horrid of them being the zealots of a totalitarian theocracy. Those will be the good guys in no popular show. Eitheir their side will be transcripted as an enlightened democracy, or the heroes will be morally conflicted, questionning their hierarchy's propaganda, and... this would not fly in that universe.

You'd get the equivalent of "nice pirates", "vampires in love", "cool t-rex saving the day by eating the evil velociraptor at the end", so that the public can endorse the main characters and identify with them. The fun of endorsing no one and identifying with no one is simply not popular enough for the aimed revenues.

Having dealt with Amazon and Netflix...

... and...

... having been around a lot of high profile Hollywood deals...

My guess is that Netflix made a lot of promises to Cavill to get him attached to The Witcher. Certainly, he's a fan of the character, but...

... the difference in pay between film and tv is HUGE. And once you take that pay cut, it's considered precedent by the industry; you will be hard-pressed to command the pay levels of film. "What did he / she get on their last job?"

So I'm certain promises were made to get him to take that pay cut. Usually there are promises (sometimes in writing, sometimes not) for more creative control as the series matures. They needed Cavill, a movie star, to get eyes on their show. While the video game and book audiences were good, they needed a wider audience... and Cavill could bring that.

But if you watch Cavill's interviews since season 1, he was always "fighting" for more dialogue. That means he was aware that Geralt's character was being minimized... and he didn't like the fact. If you were a movie star convinced to do a tv show for far less money, would you enjoy seeing fewer-and-fewer scenes with your character and fewer-and-fewer lines for your character to speak?

(My guess Cavill started to feel like he was used solely to get people to watch, and once they were watching the show, he was effectively over time being written out)

It's also very clear that he didn't like the direction the showrunners were taking the show. Was this because he was being minimized or because the show was in his mind "betraying" the source material? We may never know 100%, but...

... tv shows often go through HUGE contract re-negotiations after season 3.

So it was time to negotiate (again)... and I'm sure Cavill wanted more creative control and wasn't given it. So he walked...

... into an Amazon deal where he not only stars but has creative control (Exec. Producer) of the project.

Now, in my estimation Netflix and Amazon both have severe issues. Netflix used to be preferable because rights to films and series (produced by Netflix) used to revert to creators after 3 years. Amazon owns everything it makes outright. So from a creator's standpoint, Netflix is / was a better deal... but...

... both companies have become so compromised by ideology (ie LotR Rings of Power, Wheel of Time, Willow) that it's hard to believe anything depicting "real people" (or violence in the case of WH40K) can be created there. Sadly, both have become dull and unimaginative propaganda mills that value ideology over movie stars and audience.

Why did Cavill just lose Superman (again)?

Same issue at Warner Bros. / DC. James Gunn woke up to a huge amount of "ideological money." Wonder what their ESG score is?

Now it's a full-court press to ubdermine Cavill as a trouble-maker and unable to work with women. *sigh* When a guy -- a movie star no less -- fights to try and keep a show respecting the source material, he's labelled as "problematic." And it's telling IMHO that Cavill has NO history is being difficult to work with (and living on Hollywood and having worked in the industry for years... EVERYONE knows who is difficult and who isn't. EVERYONE). This is a "snow job" to cover-up the massive mistake of losing the star of what should have been a giant hit series (over ideology no less).

I'd have much more respect for the showrunner if she came out and simply said Cavill didn't want to make the show I want to make. Period. I may not agree, but I can respect that. But she didn't... and won't. Instead they'll "leak" fake stories to try and undermine Cavill's integrity. *face palm*

Cavill would have done better (marginally) to have tried HBO (although I'm sure he pitched there). That's about the last streaming service that will allow ideology to take a back seat to storytelling.

Having recounted this story Hollywood's current state is so utterly depressing.

Can't say I agree. The 40K world is so massive you can easily find something to make into a show/movie. And a show with no "good guys" would be a nice change of pace. It doesn't have to push some kind of positive message. Just make the 40K as it truly is. People will find something they like, be it Imperium, Eldar, Orks or whatever.

Pretty much why I am not giving this much hope. Amazon won't allow good.

And the statement that came out about Cavill is absolutely hilarious. Basically "Despite our best efforts, he wanted to make a good show which is why he had to go. Oh and he was also mean to women (that'll get their attention hehehe.... wait wait, don't put this in the statement!!!!)" :D

I caught that somewhere too. Could only roll my eyes and laugh. Too transparent, and such a punch beneath the belt. You must be strong to survive in that environment. With people willing to stoop so low just to put a "spin" on their own mistakes. Or hers in this case.

Thanks for the insight btw.

We're not living in times where anyone would bet a big budget on a "nice change of pace". The more money at stake, the more conventional and crowd-pleasing the commercial product has to be.

Meaning : absolutely zero leeway for ambiguity or unconventionality. If there is any chance of any sizeable part of the public getting mildly confused, it goes straight to the unbankable dustbin.

If you intend to re-release Blazing Saddles, preface it with a "the depicted racist characters are racist" warning and a "the authors do not condone the baddies who are not the good guys" clarification, or get burned to the ground. WH40k ? Just forget it.

Oh come on, that's an excuse in the time of CGI where Jeff Bridges, Harrison Ford, Kurt Russell etc. are made to look decades younger for their movies. Heck, sometimes they revive even dead actors nowadays! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EQbMrzu8ZU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFfyya37UJM

Just kidding, I guess it makes sense to let Cavill, pushing his forties, go if they intend to show Superman in his 20s. Then again there was already the TV series "Smallville" for young Superman, but its actor is nowadays six (6!!!) years older than Cavill! Oh my god, go to a retirement center already, you two!

Even The Boys had one "pure of heart" innocent character the public is meant to identify to. Even the Shield was grounded by some morally decent characters (Wyms, Sofer, Wagenbach if you forgive some experimental cat strangulation), even The Wire featured some clumsy idealism and noble intent. I don't think there's room for any such "spectator entry point" in WH40k's nihilism, which makes it pretty much non-mainstreamable unless heavily, fundamentally bastardized.