The Society Season 2 Chances Get Hopeful Update From Creator 5 Years After Renewal Cancellation

Five years after its cancellation, The Society creator Christopher Keyser has a hopeful update on the chances of a season 2. Netflix initially renewed the teen mystery drama two months after the release of season 1 in May 2019, with the show having garnered mostly positive reviews from critics and building an enthusiastic fanbase among viewers. Despite the renewal, The Society was cancelled in August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing financial and scheduling complications surrounding production for season 2.

In an interview with Variety, Keyser discusses The Society‘s cancellation and whether a season 2 is still possible. He and his creative partners were even in the process of releasing a graphic novel featuring season 2 storylines before the publisher went out of business. While there are no plans currently in place to resurrect the series, Keyser is still hopeful, having “consistent conversations” with various writers and director/executive producer Marc Webb about reviving it, and is grateful for the interest that remains in the story five years later. Read his comments below:

This wasn’t a normal cancellation. This wasn’t about not having the audience or we didn’t believe in it anymore. There was a global crisis that changed all of our lives in the one year we were able to make it. It really feels like this thing that we loved and were ready for was taken away more than anything I’ve ever done. That’s true for the writers and Marc Webb, with whom I made the show. There’s a sense that it stopped in mid-animation, but we knew a lot of what was going to happen on the other side.

There’s also the emotional thing going on with the audience reaching out to us and consistently saying, “Tell me what happened. When is it coming back?” It was particularly poignant for us since we were closer than I think most shows get to being ready to go again. I have consistent conversations with a bunch of the writers and Marc Webb about how we might bring this back in some way. We don’t have an answer yet, and I wouldn’t count on it, but I don’t do that with every show that gets canceled.

The audience still wants to talk about it. They are still moved by it and want answers to the questions and then new questions are posed. I just don’t know whether the world is going to work in a way that aligns for us, but we’ll keep trying for a while because it’s gotten under my skin as well. Thank you for not letting the show go. Things only live for a certain amount of time, and that’s just as long as people remember them. If this gets remembered, there’s not much else that people who make something for an audience can ask for.

Why The Society Season 2 Should Still Happen

Keyser’s comments show why The Society could still work, with both the creative talent behind the show and the fanbase still invested in finishing the story five years after the series’ cancellation. The ongoing conversations that Keyser has with Webb and his other creative partners prove that they need closure for The Society‘s numerous cliffhangers and unresolved questions as much as viewers do. As intriguing as a graphic novel continuation would’ve been, it would be most fitting to continue and finish the story as a television series.

With parallel universes and other fantastical elements teased in season 1, there are countless in-universe reasons that could explain why The Society‘s cast would look older in a season 2 revival. Kathryn Newton, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, and other members of the talented young cast have found other opportunities in recent years, including Newton’s role as Cassie Lang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Bordizzo’s role as Sabine Wren in Star Wars: Ahsoka. It would be fascinating to see what Newton, Bordizzo, and the rest of the cast bring to the reprisals of their characters after years spent playing other roles.

Netflix making The Society season 2 happen could also help change their reputation for cancelling promising series only after a single season. The streamer’s decision made logistical sense in 2020, but circumstances are now drastically different. Reviving The Society can show that Netflix is invested in the long-term success of their original content, and that unfortunate timing doesn’t have to mean a permanent end for such a compelling series. Keyser and his creative team know where the story is headed, and even though it won’t be as originally intended, it could still be enormously satisfying.

Source: Variety

The Society

One day in West Ham, Connecticut, the students of the local high school return from a field trip to find the rest of the town’s population gone. With a dense forest surrounding the town and no way to contact the outside world via phone or internet, the teenagers must formulate their own rules to maintain their own society and survival.

Cast

Kathryn Newton , Gideon Adlon , Natasha Liu Bordizzo , Jacques Colimon , Olivia DeJonge , Kristine Froseth , Jose Julian , Toby Wallace , Rachel Keller

Release Date

May 10, 2019

Seasons

1

Network

Netflix

Writers

Christopher Keyser , Qui Nguyen

Directors

Marc Webb

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