Henry Cavill Made $400K Per Episode for ‘The Witcher’ — How Does It Compare to His Superman Salary?
Over the past two decades, Henry Cavill has gone from a fan-favorite star on The Tudors to a household name associated with several iconic roles, including Superman and Geralt of Rivia. Playing Clark Kent in Man of Steel certainly helped catapult him to fame, but Netflix’s The Witcher has garnered him even more reach. It also secured him a solid payday, amounting to several million dollars when the first season was through. How much does Cavill make working on The Witcher, and how does it compare to his Superman salary?
Henry Cavill plays Geralt of Rivia on Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’
Cavill portrays Geralt of Rivia on Netflix’s The Witcher, a part he petitioned for even before the streamer even greenlit a full series order. Cavill is a longtime fan of The Witcher games and books, and he knew he wanted to give the opportunity his all. At a San Diego Comic-Con panel in 2019, he and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich recounted how he landed the role — and it proves perseverance is key.
Apparently, Cavill kept pushing his agents to call her and set up a meeting. Despite needing to work on scripts, Hissrich finally caved.
“He was really annoying,” Hissrich recalled. “I finally said, ‘I will meet with you. The show is not greenlit. There is nothing.’ I said, ‘Thank you. Now I have to go write the show.’”
Even when 207 other actors auditioned, however, Cavill was the one Hissrich kept coming back to. It seems the Superman star’s plan worked out after all — well, Cavill doesn’t seem to regret the lengths he went to, at least.
“It was something I wasn’t going to let pass me by without giving it my best shot,” Cavill explained.
The Superman star makes $400K per episode of ‘The Witcher’
Cavill’s enthusiasm about The Witcher comes from his love of the franchise. However, he also makes a generous paycheck working on the Netflix series.
Variety released a report of 2021 television salaries, and Cavill lands among the highest-paid TV stars of the present day. According to the outlet, he makes $400K per episode working on The Witcher. The first season of the series contained eight episodes, so that amounts to a $3.2 million payday for the first outing. The Witcher Season 2 contains the same number of episodes, so it seems Cavill will make another $3.2 million.
That’s a sturdy salary for the Superman star, but Cavill is actually on the lower end of Variety’s listing. While he makes about the same as David Harbour for Stranger Things and Ted Danson for Mr. Mayor, several TV stars are making upwards of $600K. Among them are former Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, who now headlines Your Honor, and Kate Winslet for her role on HBO’s Mare of Easttown.
Still, $400K per episode is a nice sum to take away upfront. How does it compare to Cavill’s Superman salary?
How does Henry Cavill’s Netflix pay compare to his Superman salary?
Since film studios rarely release financial figures like actors’ salaries, it’s hard to say exactly how much Cavill made for his first outing as Superman. TheThings reports the actor took away a $300K base pay for 2013’s Man of Steel, but that’s without accounting for the bonuses dependent on a film’s performance. Typically, stars make more once they reach certain milestones at the box office.
While Elle once reported that Cavill made $14 million from Man of Steel, the outlet later admitted the figure was unconfirmed. It also didn’t specify how much was made upfront and what was the result of box-office bonuses.
With that in mind, it’s hard to say how much Cavill made in total for Man of Steel — or what he’s made for more recent outings as Superman. When he first took on the role, however, his upfront pay seems to have been less than what he makes for The Witcher. Of course, now that he’s a more in-demand star, it’s likely he’s renegotiated his contracts.
