The real reason HBO Max canceled Raised by Wolves before season 3
After years of speculation, the mystery behind HBO Max canceling Raised by Wolves is finally nailed down: executive producer David W. Zucker says a corporate merger killed the planned third season. The critically buzzy sci-fi drama was building steam, but the post-merger shake-up sealed its fate after just two seasons.
If you ever wondered how Raised by Wolves managed to gather a cult following, only to get binned after two pretty impressive seasons, well – you are finally getting a bit of clarity from inside the camp. It’s a story of corporate shakeups, dashed plans, and a sci-fi gem left dangling without a proper conclusion. And yes, Ridley Scott was involved, so the ambition was always sky-high.
'We were ready for series three, and then...'
This week at the Italian Global Series event, executive producer David W. Zucker let slip what actually happened behind the scenes. According to Zucker, the team were fully expecting to keep going. In his words:
'HBO Max was ready to do another season. And then David Zaslav came in, and everything was set aside.'
Just to untangle that quickly: Zucker’s pointing the finger at the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger – the one where David Zaslav took over and upended pretty much everyone’s plans. Raised by Wolves, despite ramping up steam with fans and critics, was collateral damage.
The story so far: A quick recap
For those who missed it, Raised by Wolves had androids (Amanda Collin and Abubakar Salim) bringing up human children on the planet Kepler-22b, following Earth’s total devastation. Cue the arrival of the zealous Mithraic cult, and it’s all-out war between belief systems, survival, and the kind of wild ideas you’d expect from Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions. The cast also included Travis Fimmel and Niamh Algar – solid performances, a strange atmosphere, and a world begging for further exploration.
- Series creator: Produced by Scott Free Productions (Ridley Scott’s lot)
- Main cast: Amanda Collin, Abubakar Salim, Travis Fimmel, Niamh Algar
- Season 1 Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score: 76%
- Season 2 Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score: 86%
- Status: Cancelled after two seasons, despite critical gains
Ambitious plans, abrupt ending
The real sting is that the show actually found its feet in season two – critical reception jumped, and viewers seemed keen to follow the story wherever those weird, acid-drenched Kepler plotlines wanted to go. Instead, the series was not only cancelled, but removed from HBO Max entirely as part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s belt-tightening spree. (Same thing happened to Westworld, if you remember.)
Zucker’s made it clear he hasn’t quite abandoned hope – he’d 'personally wish' the show could return one day. He even chimed in that working with Ridley Scott’s team became a much stranger ride than he’d ever anticipated, what with dipping into TV universes connected to Alien and Blade Runner. For now, though, he could only say he 'hopes the series might have another day'.