A New Franchise or a New Failure?

At long last Geralt of Rivia lives!  Netflix has revealed the Witcher, played by Superman himself – Henry Cavill. The streaming service tweeted out the first photo of the character to its new series today.  Here is what he looked like:

When i first heard Henry was cast for this role i thought it was perfect! He had the look to pull off the role of the monster hunter.  While not horrid, this isn’t quite the look i was expecting.  It is extremely clean and sharp.  In fact, he looks more like he just walked out of Rivendell, home of the Middle-Earth elves.  I expected a more battle-worn and fiercer look.  More like this:

There are no scars.  No worn outfit, just a questionable gray/white wig.

What Went Wrong?

There are two things working against this first look.  The first may be the story itself.  This is the opening to a new show.  The look we are getting may simply be an early, beginning look at Geralt.  I’m sure we will most likely see monsters inflict his trademark scars as the show goes on. His armor is likely to get more and more battle damaged as  we follow him through his adventures, too.

The second thing is the nature of the shot itself.  They didn’t do a simple photo of Geralt.  They shot this weird and awkward video that highlights nothing more than the hair.  Henry gives the camera an indescribable look, turns sideways and takes a drink from a wine skin.  No background.  No context.  Why not show him in scene even if its just a tavern background?  Give his moves purpose or something!

I am not worried in the least, when all is said and done.  Let’s get a trailer and actual look at the final product before we come to any types of conclusions.  I’m still excited for this show to come to Netflix.