Hulu’s Helstrom is not returning for a second season.
Variety broke the news of the show’s cancellation last week, noting that the fate of the program was expected, since it was the last live-action series produced by the now defunct Marvel Television unit under Jeph Loeb.
Helstrom’s cancellation officially put an end to Loeb’s live-action efforts at Marvel, which includes Netflix’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher, as well as ABC’s Agents of SHIELD, FX’s Legion, Freeform’s Cloak & Dagger, Fox’s The Gifted, and Hulu’s Runaway. All of these shows were either canceled or ended their runs in the past two years.
Loeb, however, still has two Marvel animated series in the works at Hulu: M.O.D.O.K and Hit-Monkey. Executive produced by Loeb, both shows were originally supposed to be part of a four-series Marvel crossover event called The Offenders. That plan has since been scrapped and both shows will now be stand-alone series.
The 10-episode first season of Helstrom arrived on Hulu on October 16th and was met with mostly negative reviews. Fans and critics were both impressed by the show’s strong visual effects, but they found the characters dull and unexciting.
Helstrom received a series order from Hulu in May 2019 alongside a live-action Ghost Rider series with Gabriel Luna in the title role. But the streamer decided not to move forward with the latter after it got stalled by creative issues.
Starring Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon as Daimon and Ana Helstrom, Helstrom follows the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer as they track down the worst of humanity. The supporting cast includes Elizabeth Marvel, Robert Wisdom, Ariana Guerra, June Carryl, and Alain Uy.
Though Loeb’s era of live-action Marvel series has ended, Marvel Studios under Kevin Feige has a slew of live-action MCU shows coming to Disney+ in 2021. WandaVision will premiere on the streamer on January 15th, followed by The Falcon and Winter Soldier on March 19th and Loki in May.
Other MCU series that are expected to debut throughout 2021 and 2022 include Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Moon Knight. Earlier this month, Feige also confirmed at Disney Investor Day that Samuel L. Jackson will return as Nick Fury in a Disney+ series based on the Secret Invasion comics. New shows like Armor Wars starring Don Cheadle and Ironheart starring Dominique Thorne are also in the works.