Well this is…a bit strange. We know the grand Discover/Warner merger is about to happen, and it’s resulted in some pretty odd things like the CW cancelling half its slate of series. But some HBO Max series may be on the cutting block as well, including one of the best sci-fi shows on TV, Raised by Wolves.
The weird part about this is that the cancellation has not been announced, but one of the stars of the show, Abubakar Salim, who plays Father, has taken to the show’s subreddit to say it’s already privately been cancelled at HBO Max and they need fans to make noise about it so it can find a new home elsewhere, presumably a rival streaming service. Here’s part of the message he posted on Reddit a few hours ago:
“Power in community. Finding a new home.
It’s not surprising, especially after the news of these mergers and what is happening at Warner, that a lot of shows are not having their stories finished.
And unfortunately, one of those shows is Raised by Wolves.
Nothing has been shared yet. But there is a reason for that. An important one. And one which I’m here to share with you now. There is hope.
You see, we’re in a unique position: we have a fully fleshed out and planned storyline, a Goliath of a production team behind us, incredible reception from critics and reviewers alike, and most crucially, a community base that is so strong internationally, it can not be ignored.
The reason the cancellation hasn’t been announced is because there’s still a chance the story can continue, and be finished at a new home.”
Salim goes on to ask fans to go on social media and start one of those “fan movement” campaigns that can sometimes lead to the renewal of shows. Salim actually references the Snyder Cut as a time when fans rallied to get a seemingly impossible project made by simply being loud enough (very, very loud, in that case). From the sound of it, it seems like the Raised by Wolves’ cancellation is already done and cannot necessarily be undone, and the goal is to find a new home for the show outright.
On the one hand, I’m not shocked about this. Raised by Wolves has to be a pretty expensive production given its sci-fi nature and blockbuster feel. And yet it is not really an attention-grabber, and I would not be surprised to learn it’s not doing huge viewership numbers on HBO Max.
That said, I love this show. Now that The Expanse is over, this is easily one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite space-based sci-fi series out there. It has echoes of something like Prometheus, but is much weirder and much more compelling. I really do hope it gets saved.
But yes, it’s a longshot. I’m not sure if the fanbase can rally with the fervor needed to get it moved elsewhere, but I certainly agree with Salim that they should try. We’ll see if there’s any official news on this to come, as I imagine Salim maybe wasn’t supposed to exactly go on reddit talking about this pre-cancellation early…
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2022/06/03/raised-by-wolves-star-says-its-about-to-get-cancelled-by-hbo-max-asks-for-fan-help/