Netflix’s Grendel series has been canceled but could be picked up elsewhere.
According to Deadline, the Dark Horse comic book adaptation, about a masked vigilante named Grendel, has been canned by the online streaming service.
Announced back in 2021, Grendel had been picked up by Netflix for an eight-episode series, but now the project has been pulled, despite the fact that it was midway through production.
“This business, man,” said comic book writer Jay Faerber via Twitter. “They were in the middle of shooting their first season and Netflix just… changed their minds. Nothing had even aired yet.”
This business, man… They were in the middle of shooting their first season and Netflix just… changed their minds. Nothing had even aired yet. https://t.co/KZqJfNO7Ax
— Jay Faerber (@JayFaerber) September 27, 2022
Grendel stars Abubakr Ali in the leading role – the first male Muslim actor to portray a series lead in a comic book adaptation. It tells the story of Hunter Rose (Ali), a gifted fencer, writer, and assassin, who’s looking to avenge the death of a lost love. He goes to war with the entire New York criminal underworld, only to realize… why beat them when you can join them?
The series was secured by Netflix as part of its first look series with Dark Horse.
However, this isn’t necessarily the end of the road for Grendel. Now that Netflix has pulled the plug on the project, producers are free to shop the series elsewhere, so we could eventually find that the masked vigilante has simply found a different home.
Additionally, the decision to cancel Grendel apparently came after the bulk of filming was already complete, so streamers and networks might be keen to pick up a series with only minimal work left to do.
Despite Grendel’s cancellation, the relationship between Dark Horse and Netflix remains strong. After all, they recently renewed The Umbrella Academy for a fourth season – another Dark Hose adaptation brought to the screen by Netflix.
Will Grendel ever see the light of day? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
Want to read more about Netflix? Check out the new Netflix game studio as well as everything announced at Netflix’s Tudum 2022.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Grendel Series Dropped By Netflix But Could be Shopped Elsewhere