Scavengers Reign was cancelled by Max, and Netflix elected not to pick up a second season, but its creators are shopping it around. Will the fans rally around this show?
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What Is It?
This animated sci fi series follows the survivors of a damaged interstellar cargo ship who try to find their missing crewmates on the planet where they crashed. In their endeavors, they must deal with the odd ecosystem of this land, which can be both hostile and helpful.
Aired: Max/Netflix, 2023, 1 Season Totaling 12 Episodes
Starring: Sunita Mani, Wunmi Mosaku, Alia Shawkat, Bob Stephenson, Ted Travelstead
Created By: Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner
Why Was It Cancelled?
This series premiered on Max in Fall 2023 but it did not chart during its first season run on that service. It did develop some notable word-of-mouth throughout the sci fi community, and regularly received recommendations on social media as a unique and original genre entry. It has also been lauded by critics and viewers, currently holding a 100% Fresh Rating and 96% Audience Score at Rotten Tomatoes. But none of that led to notable viewership numbers and Max decided to cancel the show after one season.
Despite the cancellation, Netflix must have been paying attention to the positive buzz because they picked it up for an encore run of the first season which began in Summer 2024. They did not commit to a second season of the show, but the word was that were paying close attention to the viewership numbers. It did not chart for that streaming service either, though, and co-creator Joe Bennett has since confirmed in an Instagram Post that a second season is not happening on Netflix:
As of right now, Scavengers Reign is not being renewed for a second season.
I wanted to let everyone know directly because I really love our fanbase, they’ve been such champions for the show, and I don’t want to leave everyone hanging.
We’ve had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way to get this show made, starting all the way back in 2016 with the Scavengers short film to the release of the first season last year.
It’s a case study for believing in something and persevering through a million and one hurdles. But, it got made, thanks especially to so many people who supported it along the way, in big and small ways. I want to thank some of those people, starting with my co-creator Charles Huettner @charles.huettner , Chris Prynoski @chrisprynoski and everyone at @titmouseinc , my home base at @greenstreetpictures , the writers, directors, and so many incredible artists who worked tirelessly on the show, and the folks at Max who were incredible partners to work with.
But this is not the end. There is more story to be told, we are ready to make another season, and we produced in-house at Green Street a teaser for what was going to come in the second season.
Thanks again to everyone who watched and supported the show.
But as Bennett says in the post, this does not mean that Scavengers Reign will become yet another one-and-done sci fi series cast to the Television Wasteland. The creators have plans for a second season and they have created a teaser to help pitch it to other venues. So there is still a chance that this one will be back with more episodes at some point.
Can the Show Be Saved?
The fate of Scavengers Reign is uncertain at this point, but it is not impossible that it could return for a second season or more. Netflix definitely had an interest in continuing the show, but the viewership numbers did not appear to justify it. I am not certain if it was an expensive production, but if it was not too costly, another streamer might consider taking a flyer on the show. And there is always the possibility that the creators could try crowd-funding a new season of the show, similar to what Joel Hodgson did with Mystery Science Theater 3000.
As mentioned above, the show has developed quite a bit of buzz, but it does not seem to have pulled together a cohesive fanbase. I have seen people promoting it sporadically in various places, but not a unified effort that has managed to get it trending on social media. At this point, if fans can bring the show some attention and get people watching it in large numbers on Netflix and/or Max to get it back in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings, but might be enough to draw the interest of another venue as the creators are shopping its around. A social media campaign to get it trending and bring it more attention could help as well. But most importantly, the fans need to organize and put together a strong Call to Action of some sort if they want more from Scavengers Reign.
Where Can You Watch It?
The show is still streaming on Max and on Netflix. My guess is that it is more likely to leave the former first, so fans should probably focus their attention on Netflix. But views on either service will certainly count at this point.
Stream Scavengers Reign on Netlix or Max
Did you watch Scavengers Reign and would you support fan efforts to save the show? Chime in below in the comments.
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I had high hopes for Scavenger’s Reign between the Moebius style artwork and the surrealistic elements suggested by the trailer. Ultimately though the story was lacking – I won’t spoil some of the story points but it was weridness for weirdness sake without any real rhyme or reason. I was hoping for weird in the vein of an animated analogue of ‘Raised by Wolves’ – sadly, what it turned out to be was far far less.