Netflix fever strikes again, this time with the fantasy series Lockwood & Co. The show, about a teen who joins a paranormal detective agency, received good reviews when it came out in January, and topped the viewing charts in multiple countries, yet is still being culled by the streaming giant. While this is sad news for those involved in the series, like Bridgerton’s Ruby Stokes, it puts the mystery show in some pretty illustrious company. So, here’s a list of 10 other fantasy series canceled by Netflix after just a single season.
The Irregulars
A retelling of the Sherlock Holmes stories, this smart supernatural mystery saw the famous detective reimagined as a shadowy figure, using his famous assistant Watson to manipulate a group of homeless teams into solving mysteries all over London. Released at the tail-end of March in 2021, it wasn’t the most advertised show, nor were any of its stars particularly famous, but it managed to achieve a bit of a cult following. However, just two months later the streaming service decided it wouldn’t be back for a second season, leading to plenty of angry subscribers.
Jupiter’s Legacy
While a lot of these cancelled shows were beloved, sometimes Netflix actually does the right thing and puts a failing series out of its misery. Jupiter’s Legacy is one such example. Based on a popular superhero comic of the same name, the show was about the Sampsons and their friends, a multigenerational group of superheroes, and delves into the differences between the two generations about the role of their powers in world they live in. Despite the poor critical response, the show was one of the most watched on the streaming service the week it was released, and the week after. Fans of the show shouldn’t be too sad, though: the animated series Super Crooks on Netflix serves as a spin-off to Jupiter’s Legacy, so there’s more in-universe content to go around once they’ve blasted through that first season.
Cursed
Drama, magic, and a retelling of the Arthurian legend: what more could you want in a series? Apparently, a lot if you’re a Netflix executive. This show was told through the eyes of Nimue, a young witch who goes out into the world after her mother’s death and finds a friend and partner in the young mercenary Arthur, who’s on a quest to deliver an ancient, powerful sword to the wizard Merlin. Like many of these shows, Cursed is based on other material, in this case a graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler. The show was noted for its slightly wooden performances and safety compared to the source material, but was also beautifully shot and a lot of fun to watch. Great if you’re home on a rainy day, but not something to plan your life around seeing.
Cowboy Bebop
Possibly the most disappointing show in this list, Cowboy Bebob had fans of the original Japanese anime series incredibly excited to see the reboot. The show is set more than a century into the future, focusing on the adventures of a group of ragtag bounty hunters on the Bebop spacecraft, who spend their time trying to hunt down criminals across the solar system. But, as Disney can tell you, live-action remakes of animated classics are a tricky thing to get right, and Netflix certainly did not in this case. Most critics and watchers felt it was nowhere near the level of the original series, and the show was canceled less than a month after its release in winter 2021.
Archive 81
Based on a podcast of the same name, this supernatural horror had every chance of being a sleeper hit thanks to its intriguing premise, and delivered in terms of both viewing figures and critical responses. The show follows audio archivist Dan, who’s just been hired to review and catalogue some old audio tapes for the Housing Historical Committee of New York State. However, this is no regular job, as he has to work in a remote, isolated area in the middle of the woods. The tapes all consist of interviews conducted by a woman named Melody Pendras, between her and the residents of a mysterious N.Y.C apartment building called the Eldritch Visser building, and were incredibly weird, often referencing an unnerving song that people in the building could hear. Unsettling and creepy in all the right ways, the show was incredibly popular throughout the month it was released (January), but was still canceled in March of the same year.
First Kill
Sometimes a show says everything in its title, and First Kill is one of those. Following the teenage vampire Juliette Fairmont as she tries to make her first kill in order to become an adult and fully fledged vampire, it has an intriguing backstory that includes a familial line that traces all the way back to Biblical times. The show mostly focuses on Juliette’s moral qualms with killing someone, as she believes draining humans of their blood isn’t right, and instead becomes romantically entangled with possibly the worst person she can: Calliope, the daughter of a monster hunting family who needs to slay her first beast to officially become a hunter. So far, so intriguing, right? Although not a classic, it was a fun show, and had strong viewership figures. Yet, Netflix axed it, leading to a fan campaign to save the show.
Resident Evil
We’re mad about a lot of these shows being murdered by Netflix, but with this adaptation of the famous video game franchise, few people were sad to see it go (and the ones who were probably worked on it). Despite following some elements of the game’s storyline, the series is officially set in its own universe, and takes place in two different points of time. In 2022, we mostly follow Billie and Jade, the children of Dr Wesker, as they move to a planned community for workers of the Umbrella Corporation, and discover some dark secrets while their father battles a bioweapon called T-virus. We jump between then and 2036, after T-virus has turned large swathes of the world into cannibalistic creatures known as Zeroes, and the remaining humans are living in walled communities. The Umbrella Corporation is now the only remaining organization, and they’re hunting down Jade. This, frankly, is not a good series, with fans of the games reacting poorly to the remake – and Netflix duly got out the guillotine.
The Imperfects
Released in October 2022, this supernatural series was cancelled just one month later, despite some pretty high viewership numbers. It follows scientist Abbi, comic book artist Juan, and singer Tilda as they’re accidentally turned into monsters after an experimental gene therapy goes wrong. They decide to chase after the scientist responsible for their new condition in an attempt to get him to reverse the experiment and return them to human form. There was a lot to like about this series, but it was still placed on the chopping board, despite great audience reviews and a lot of heart.
The Midnight Club
A genuinely brilliant series that’s reminiscent of nineties classics like Are You Afraid of the Dark, this show about 8 terminally ill teens and kids is both heartwarming and terrifying. The group, who reside in the Brightcliffe Home hospice, run by a mysterious doctor, get together at midnight every night to tell scary tales. They also have a pact that the first one of them to die from their diseases needs to try and communicate with the others from the beyond. Although it was one of the streaming services’ most watched shows during October 2022 and was praised by critics, it was still canceled in December of that year.
Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself
Possibly the best show on this list, Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself was a unique and brilliant adaptation of the novel Half Bad by Sally Green. It follows 16 year old Nathan Byrne, the illegitimate son of the “world’s most dangerous blood witch” Marcus Edge. The Council of Fairborn Witches believes he might turn out like his dad, and begin chasing after Nathan after their conflict with the Blood Witches escalates. Nathan goes on the run with two friends, finding out a lot more about his past along the way. Outstanding critical reviews, good figures, and some beautiful sequences couldn’t stop Netflix from culling this show after just one series, but as this article shows, that’s just how it goes with the streaming giant.
