Henry Cavill will play Geralt in Netflix's Witcher series (Updated)

Update: Doug Cockle—the voice of Geralt of Rivia's videogame appearances, and the guy Austin once had a wild night out with in Atlanta—has given Henry Cavill his blessing to play The White Wolf in Netflix's The Witcher series. 

As outlined in our original story below, Cavill was confirmed by Netflix as the incoming show's star man yesterday. In doing so, showrunner Lauren Hissrich spoke of how taken she's been by his enthusiasm and passion, saying: "He IS Geralt."

Cockle says Cavill will make the role his own—"as he should"—and reckons he "will do a great job."

Original story: Back in August, Superman star Henry Cavill said he's a big fan of The Witcher—the books and the games—and that he'd "absolutely" want to play Geralt in the upcoming Netflix television series. Today Netflix announced—and Cavill confirmed—that the role is his. 

In fact, it turns out that Cavill knew he was going to play Geralt when he expressed interest in the role last month. "He was my first meeting. I didn’t have writers or scripts yet – just a  greenlight and a lot of passion," showrunner Lauren Hissrich revealed on Twitter. "That was four months ago, and I've never forgotten the passion he brought. He IS Geralt. He always has been. I'm so thrilled to welcome Henry Cavill to the Witcher family."

It seemed to me like an odd match when Cavill first said he'd like to portray the White Wolf. He generally comes off as almost impossibly clean-cut (he basically looks like that Mission: Impossible photo all the time), while Geralt peaks out somewhere a little south of "grizzled." But he definitely has the physique for the job, and a certain amount of experience in dropping the hammer on bad guys that will probably come in handy too.  

A photo of Cavill as Geralt that he shared on his Instagram account (unofficial, as far as I know, one of a series of fan-made images featuring him in various roles) is pretty convincing: Cosplay him up, cover that perfect jawline with stubble and scars, send him off to Poland, and it might just work—although not hearing Doug Cockle's voice when he speaks will take some getting used to.

If nothing else, he sure seems to be throwing himself into the role.