'Altered Carbon' Canceled After 2 Seasons by Netflix

Netflix has decided to cancel cyberpunk drama Altered Carbon after two seasons. According to Deadline, the decision to cancel the series, which starred Anthony Mackie, was made back in April. While the streaming platform recently canceled a few of their shows due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Altered Carbon was reportedly canceled because of the show's viewership in comparison to the cost renewal review process.

Altered Carbon was created by Laeta Kalogridis and originally premiered on Netflix in February of 2018. The first season of the show, based on Richard K. Morgan's 2002 novel of the same title, starred Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs. The second season premiered this past February and featured Mackie stepping into the role of Kovacs. Altered Carbon's second season consisted of eight episodes and was followed by an anime movie that premiered on March 27. On Wednesday, actor Will Yun Lee, who portrayed an earlier iteration of Kovacs, responded to the news of the show's cancellation. He wrote on Twitter, alongside a photo of the cast, "What a great ride it has been on #AlteredCarbon !! Thanks to all the fans that tuned in for both seasons, Takeshi Kovacs, one of my fav characters I've gotten to play."

As previously mentioned, Altered Carbon's cancellation comes after Netflix canceled two of their other fan-favorite shows, The Society and I Am Not OK With This, recently. Unlike the situation concerning Altered Carbon, Netflix cited coronavirus-related complications as the reason why those shows would not be returning for additional seasons. The news came as a surprise to fans, especially since The Society had already been picked up for a second season. Both The Society and I Am Not OK With This lasted for one season on the streaming platform. In regards to the cancellation news, a Netflix spokesperson released a statement in which they explained why those shows would not be moving forward on the streaming service.

"We've made the difficult decision not to move forward with second seasons of The Society and I Am Not Okay With This," the spokesperson said, per Variety. "We're disappointed to have to make these decisions due to circumstances created by COVID, and we are grateful to these creators, including Jonathan Entwistle, Christy Hall, Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen and Josh Barry at 21 Laps Entertainment for I Am Not Okay With This; Chris Keyser, Marc Webb and Pavlina Hatoupis for The Society; and all the writers, casts and crews who worked tirelessly to make these shows for our members around the world."