Netflix has gained such a reputation for cancelling hit fantasy shows without a care in the world that subscribers are fully prepared for the worst-case scenario from the second a new effects-driven episodic offering set in a heightened reality lands on the platform, with Lockwood & Co. merely the latest example.
Despite making an impressive debut on the platform’s viewership charts to become the number one most-watched series on the planet, the doomsayers were already out in force proclaiming that there was no point in becoming too invested when there was a distinctly high probability that it would become the latest in a long line of hits immediately cast onto the scrapheap.
Lockwood & Co. deservedly won plenty of praise from critics and audiences, but the number one issue a lot of people have is that the final episode ends on a cliffhanger to be picked up off the bat in a second season that’s by no means guaranteed to be given the green light.
Undeterred, though, creator and executive producer Joe Cornish admitted to Discussing Film that he’s planning at least two more seasons should the otherworldly investigators be spared from cancellation.
“It just gets bigger and bigger and better. It was incredibly exciting and rewarding to read that first book all those years ago then go away, do other things, then hear that they were available again and read the next four. It was like “Holy shit!” This is better than we could possibly have imagined, in the way it has developed since. Our first season on Netflix is the first two books. There are three more books left to adapt. We think we could get two more seasons out of it if the gods smile upon us.”
It’s hard to put the pessimism to one side when Netflix’s track record shows that there’s every reason to expect Lockwood & Co. to bite the dust, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of fingers being crossed in the hopes the company will surprise its fantasy fanatics for a change.