The wave of Netflix cancellations continues, and this time the player canceled a show before it aired. Last September, Netflix first ordered an eight-episode first season of Grendel, based on Matt Wagner’s sitcom. Now, according to diverse (Opens in a new tab)It will no longer be streamed on Netflix.
Grendel follows the character of Hunter Rose, a writer and ex-assassin who fights organized crime in New York. In typical comic book style, this is all to avenge death – in this case an ex-lover.
Hunter takes the name Grendel, after the monster from Beowulf, and eventually ends up taking control of the New York criminal underworld himself. Why not? Vigilance doesn’t really pay the bills, as Spider-Man attests.
Abubakar Ali (Katie Kane) is set to play the title role, while Jaime Ray Newman (Dubissek) is the lover of deceased Hunter Jocasta Rose. Grendel has also starred in Julian Black Antelope (Tribal), Antonio Marziale (Altered Carbon), Philip Granger (Tucker & Dale vs Evil), and Pavel Kritz (Mission Impossible 4), among others.
The program was written and executive produced by Andrew Dabb, who also co-starred in the recently canceled Netflix series Resident Evil. So he’s not having a particularly good two months.
It’s not clear why Netflix dropped the show, especially since the first season was already in post-production. It’s not entirely clear when it will actually hit Netflix, but release day couldn’t be too far away.
Netflix has always been prone to canceling shows that haven’t risen to nearly huge levels, but this year it seems to have been particularly bad. Grendel now joins shows such as The Babysitter’s Club, Raising Dion, Q-Force, and Archive 81. Other shows, such as Antiracist Baby, Wings of Fire, and Bone were similarly canceled before one episode aired.
Netflix isn’t the only culprit here either. HBO Max was in the process of canceling before and after the Warner Bros. merger. with Discovery. Gentleman Jack, raised by wolves, and a number of projects led by J.J. Abrams have hit the chopping block. Batgirl, a DCEU movie made for HBO Max, was also canned during post-production, so Warner Bros. could. Discovery use the $60 million budget as a tax deduction.
Fortunately, the Grendel production team has the right to shop and connect with other networks who may be interested in choosing Grendel themselves. But this is not guaranteed, and there is no information about who might pick it up; I hope someone out there isn’t as quick to cancel as Netflix.
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