Unfortunately for fans of the teen vampire series, First Kill Season 2 is not coming to Netflix. The news comes less than two months after Season 1 debuted on June 10, when Netflix cancelled the supernatural series. While Netflix hasn't yet released an official statement, Deadline reports the streaming giant has decided to not renew First Kill, so that means the show is done for good.
The cancellation makes First Kill the latest casualty in Netflix killing off shows after only one season. Other shows like Julie and the Phantoms, The Society, Teenage Bounty Hunters and The Irregulars, and Daybreak have also been cancelled after one season.
Why did Netflix cancel First Kill after one season?
According to tracking websites, First Kill racked up 97.6 million viewing hours when it was inside Netflix's Top 10 charts. By contrast, Heartstopper only got a little more than half that amount, 53.4 million hours. Heartstopper was renewed for two more seasons, so why didn't First Kill get renewed for at least one more season to wrap up its story?
Netflix hasn't revealed the reason why First Kill was canceled, but we have a few theories:
- First Kill's critical reception is not as great as Heartstopper, which has a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 97% audience score. The vampire series only has 58% score among critics, but the show has a 90% audience score, so it seems that the show has an audience despite its mixed critical reception.
- There could be some kind of cost factor in play. Netflix has been trimming down on productions this year, so it's possible that First Kill was canceled to focus the streamer's budget on bigger projects. While the vampire series is not as expensive as the streamer's other projects, the supernatural visual effects likely cost more than Heartstopper. Earlier this year, the superhero series Raising Dion was canceled after two seasons, and fans of the show were also upset.
What are First Kill fans saying about its cancelation?
Shortly after news of First Kill's cancelation came out, fans of the vampire series expressed their disappointment on social media, and the hashtag #CancelNetflix quickly became trending.
Here are some of the tweets with the #CancelNetflix hashtag: