Netflix isn’t letting the holiday season curtail its quest to cancel just about every original TV show that doesn’t pull Stranger Things numbers. Fresh from binning The Midnight Club earlier this month, Deadline reports that the streamer has now axed Warrior Nun after two seasons on the platform.
Based on Ben Dunn’s comic book series Warrior Nun Areala, this TV adaptation starred Alba Baptista as Ava Silva, a 19-year-old who awakes in a morgue and discovers she has been resurrected to become part of the ancient Order of the Cruciform Sword. Tasked with fighting demons on Earth and with a strange divine artefact embedded in her back, Ava must contend with the powerful forces of heaven and hell who both want to find and control her.
Alongside Baptista, the series also featured Toya Turner, Sylvia De Fanti, Lorena Andrea, Kristina Tonteri-Young and Olivia Delcan. Simon Barry served as creator and showrunner across both seasons. Barry reacted to the news on Twitter by sharing a short message where they thanked “the fans who worked so hard to bring awareness to this series” as well as for all the support given to the show’s cast and creative team.
I’ve just found out that @netflix will not be renewing #WarriorNun - my sincere appreciation to all the fans who worked so hard to bring awareness to this series, and for the love you showed me, the cast and the whole production team. It was a privilege to be a part of this. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/eZIBa4tJYmDecember 13, 2022
As you might expect Warrior Nun viewers haven’t taken particularly kindly to the news of its cancelation. Social media has been flooded with disappointed fans expressing their frustration at its demise, and there has even been a petition started requesting that Netflix reconsiders. At the time of writing its amassed almost 20,000 signatures.
Why was Warrior Nun canceled by Netflix?
The first season of Warrior Nun was comprised of 10 episodes and debuted in July 2020. It was clearly deemed successful enough for Netflix to quickly commission more, and a shorter eight-episode second season debuted just last month. However, a little more than 30 days later and Netflix has pulled the plug. It would seem the streamer wasn’t impressed the performance of Warrior Nun season 2 and has deemed a third installment not worth the cost.
As reported by Deadline, Warrior Nun’s season second spent just three weeks in Netflix’s most-watched list, and only peaked at No. 5. It did rack up more than 26 million viewing hours in its first week, and almost 28 million in its second. And while these numbers may appear impressive they are a far cry from the one billion viewing hours threshold that Wednesday has crossed in just three weeks.
Overall, Warrior Nun was reasonably well received. Its first season managed a respectable 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, while its second season pulled a perfect 100% — admittedly the sophomore season was reviewed by far fewer outlets. Plus, the show has gained a passionate fanbase, which is clearly evident by its impressive 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately, it would seem Warrior Nun built up an enthusiastic viewer base, rather than a large one, and that made its cancelation somewhat inevitable.
Warrior Nun is far from the first fantasy series to face the axe on Netflix this year. It now joins the constantly-growing list of Netflix shows canceled in 2022, a collection of content that also includes First Kill and Fate: The Winx Saga. It’s definitely been a bad year for Netflix subscribers who enjoy high-concept fantasy shows.
And it’s not just been fantasy shows that have faced the chop either, everything from imitate dramas to zany animations have been canceled on Netflix in recent months. Fingers crossed Warrior Nun is Netflix’s final victim of the year — but considering the streamers trigger happy approach to canceling shows we certainly wouldn’t bet on that.
