Amazon Cancels ‘Utopia’ After One Season

Cult series Utopia has been canceled by Amazon, after only one season. The show’s cancellation comes just two months after its debut, Variety reports. There is currently no word on if the show will be shopped for a second season elsewhere. Utopia is a sci-fi series that mixes drama, action and dark humor as it follows a group of comic book fans who discover that a mythical graphic novel is real, and holds secrets to the end of the world as they know it.

It very bizarrely ended up mimicking the real world, as the characters are all facing off against a deadly pandemic. The series was created by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects), and was inspired by a British series of the same name. Among Utopia’s many high profile stars are actors John Cusack and Rainn Wilson, as well as Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) and Christopher Denham (Argo). Additional stars include Ashleigh LaThrop, Dan Byrd, Desmin Borges, Javon Walton, Farrah Mackenzie, Cory Michael Smith, Jeanine Serralles and Sasha Lane.

In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com prior to the show’s release, Cusack spoke about his character, Dr. Kevin Christie, whose moral compass appears to be quite gray. “I think in the sort of world that we live in, right? There are a lot of parallels for this type of a person throughout history and also through modern history as well.”

He also had very kind words for Flynn, saying, “She created this great character and by the end of it, you almost think maybe he’s not a bad guy at all.” Cusack added, “Maybe he’s a good guy. All that morality keeps getting thrown into a blender. And by the time you’re in episode eight and you think you know who everybody is and where everybody stands, you find out that that was just prologue.”

Wilson also spoke with PopCulture in an exclusive conversation, and offered insight into his own character, Dr. Michael Stearns, who he said displays great integrity, albeit with some great naivety. “I think the most unlikely people are called on to do something and find themselves with this resilience and integrity to say, ‘No, I’m not going to do that. That’s not right,’” Wilson said. “That’s what we need people to do is stand up and say, ‘No, this isn’t right.’ And that’s really what makes a hero. I mean, it can be on a very small scale. It doesn’t have to involve an international pandemic.”