The largest Freeform supernatural thriller to make it big on Netflix was ‘Shadowhunters’, which, contrary to our expectations, was cancelled ahead of the season 4 release. Where does that leave us? Should you keep your hopes up? Keep reading to find out!
‘Shadowhunters’ entered the Netflix-verse in 2016 and created an army of fans. The teenage fantasy thriller has been critically acclaimed across countries and has received several prestigious awards in the course of its run. Undoubtedly, when Netflix dropped the bomb of having cancelled ‘Shadowhunters’, ahead of its season 4 release, fans were pretty shaken. Soon enough, the show’s creators were saying goodbye to all the brilliant plans they had for the show’s future. Do those plans still stand a fair chance? We have got all the details covered for you.
Highlights —
- ‘Shadowhunters’ cancelled without awarning
- What plans did the ‘Shadowhunters’ bosses have for the show?
- ‘Shadowhunters’ Season 4: Possible or not?
‘Shadowhunters’ cancelled without a warning
Developed by Ed Decter, ‘Shadowhunters’ had been adapted into a series from Cassandra Clare’s book “The Mortal Instruments“. The show follows the narrative of a girl in her teens, Clary Fray. On discovering her origins among a long line of “Shadowhunters”, a group of demon-hunting human-angel hybrids, Clary embarks on her own adventures. With the support of her friends, Clary battles demons in a supernatural fantasy world.
The fantasy thriller, brought to us by Freeform, was later taken on by Netflix and was going strong until Netflix decided to axe it. Despite multiple protests from fans who even started a campaign to save the show, Netflix seemed fixed on its decision. Unfortunately, there was no going back for ‘Shadowhunters’ and it remained cancelled before season 4 could release.
Although unwelcome, ‘Shadowhunters’ received a just farewell before it walked off into the sunset. In a warm gesture towards the show and the fans, Freeform offered a two-hour finale that was both grand and exciting. The cancellation of this fan-favourite was as out of the blue for those associated with the show as it was for the fans. Showrunners Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin told “Metro.co.uk”,
“It took us several months to understand what had actually gone on in terms of the contracts and the business and what had gone awry so that’s was also the realisation of how screwed up the business was”.
On the contrary, however, Freeform had suggested that the decision to can ‘Shadowhunters’ was purely because they could not work the economics out with Constantin Films.
What plans did the ‘Shadowhunters’ bosses have for the show?
Since the decision to axe ‘Shadowhunters’ was so sudden, the team was unprepared and had big things planned for the show. Fate, however, had other plans and the showrunners had to struggle to fit in the stories left for the future seasons into the final episodes. Talk about cutting it close! Slavkins mentioned while talking to “Entertainment Weekly”, all the things they had planned and would have done differently had season 4 been still been game.
He said,
“We never would’ve killed the Seelie Queen this early. That relationship between Jonathan and the Seelie Queen was going to be a season. It was going to be much longer. His metamorphosis was going to take more time”.
Apparently, a lot more would have happened differently including the Magnus-Alec wedding. The creators would have preferred to not rush through the wedding and take their time in planning it. Moreover, the Simon-Izzy subplot that was gradually being shaped, would have been given more depth across future seasons had that dream not been cut short. Swimmer, however, has cut out the job for the fans. He said, “These are all things we’re going to have to have the fans continue in the fanfiction”.
‘Shadowhunters’ Season 4: Possible or not?
From where we are standing, it seems as though ‘Shadowhunters’ should stop dreaming about a season 4 release. The demon-hunting was cut short and the chances of it being renewed seem slim. Besides unavailability of proper funding, the falling viewership ratings of the show had also fuelled its cancellation. Unfortunately, even the “#SaveShadowhunters” campaign couldn’t manage to bring the show back. However, if there’s anything that we have learned from history, it’s that the tables can always turn. Fan-favourite shows that had been cancelled earlier have been renewed time and again and that includes shows like ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ and ‘Lucifer’.
The moral of the story is that there’s always hope! So, cross your heart and hope for ‘Shadowhunters’ to release season 4.
