The Witcher season 4 confirms another major character has been recast, and the actor has revealed why

Due to scheduling conflicts, The Witcher has recast another character for its fourth season.

It was reported last week that while the character of Vesemir is set to return, actor Kim Bodnia is not. “Kim will not return as Vesemir as his current shooting diary didn’t fit in with Netflix’s shooting schedule of The Witcher season 4,” a spokesperson for Bodnia told The Radio Times.

The scheduling conflict reportedly has to do with his involvement in the action drama F1, which was initially supposed to film at the same time as The Witcher season 4 before the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes put a halt on production.

F1, directed by Top Gun: Maverick helmer Joseph Kosinski, stars Brad Pitt as a Formula One driver who is forced to retire after a terrible crash. He comes out of retirement years later to train a rookie named Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) for the Apex Grand Prix team.

Vesemir, who appears once in the books but is in several of the video games, is a witcher of the School of the Wolf who acts as Geralt of Rivia’s mentor. His origin story is explained in the animated movie The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.  The Witcher season 4 also marks Liam Hemsworth’s debut as the new Geralt of Rivia, after Henry Cavill left the show (and has since signed on for several more IP-related projects).

The Witcher season 4 does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our list of the best Netflix shows to stream right now.