‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ and 5 More Canceled Netflix Shows We Want to Return

While networks and streamers continue their brutal cancellations, none have been doing it like Netflix. The streamer is notorious when it comes to canceling shows, especially those with only one season. Some have been lucky enough to be saved, whether by Netflix time and time again like Lucifer or gone to another network, but others have not been so lucky.

From supernatural creatures to a town filled with no adults or infected adults to much more, many shows have come to premature endings. Adding on all of the shows that Netflix canceled in 2023 and beyond, it’s impossible to include every single one of them. Even narrowing it down was hard, whether it was a recent cancellation or one that happened a while ago. So take a look at some of the shows Netflix canceled that need to come back.

‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’

What initially was going to be a Riverdale spinoff on The CW, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina turned into much more than that. The supernatural drama, based on the beloved Archie Comics, takes the story of Sabrina the teenage witch and gives it a much darker and grittier makeover. The series lasted for four seasons, and there was much more left to tell after the series ended, even with Sabrina dying and going to Hell.

Although Season 6 of Riverdale did satisfy Sabrina fans by having Kiernan Shipka guest star in two episodes, with her second one explaining why she’s back and how boyfriend Nick Scratch is doing, it still wasn’t enough and definitely made fans want more of Sabrina. Creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Deadline that if Part 5 would have happened at Netflix, it would’ve involved the Riverdale characters as witches, with a war between Riverdale and Greendale. Due to the COVID pandemic, it didn’t happen, even though “Netflix was excited about that idea.”

‘The Society’

Maybe one of the most heartbreaking shows on this list simply because fans were so close to another season. The Society centered on a group of teenagers who are left to run their own community after the rest of the population of their town disappears. The Season 1 finale saw the adults of West Ham memorialize the teenagers that have disappeared to New Ham, bringing a bigger mystery to be solved as fans wondered how the adults are connected with what happened.

While Netflix renewed the series for a second season in July 2019, two months after the series dropped, the COVID-19 pandemic halted production. In August 2020, Netflix officially reversed the renewal and canceled The Society, citing cost increases and scheduling difficulties due to the pandemic the cause. It’s been four years, and this one still hurts. Just recently, creator Christopher Keyser told Variety that he has “consistent conversations” about how to bring back the series in some way to give fans the answers they so desperately need. Perhaps one day it will happen.

‘Daybreak’

One of the more underrated Netflix series, but definitely one that deserved better. Daybreak took place in a post-apocalyptic Greendale, California, as residents are turned into zombie-like creatures, and it’s up to high school outcast Josh and his ragtag group of misfits to try to survive, as he also tries to find his missing girlfriend, Sam.

The series premiered in October 2019, and that December, Netflix canceled . There was so much more to get into and what happened with the kids, especially after Sam declared herself the new leader of the survivors and how that would have affected the show. Series being canceled after only one season is heartbreaking, including the fact that it didn’t give it much time to grow.

‘First Kill’

Fans were livid when Netflix canceled . Based on Victoria Schwab’s short story of the same name, the series followed a pair of star-crossed lovers – a young vampire and a vampire hunter. With vampire Juliette needing to feed on someone despite believing draining humans is wrong, she gets romantically involved with human Calliope, who belongs to a monster-hunting family and needs to slay her first monster to become a full-fledged monster hunter.

While the series has received mixed reviews from critics, the show was well-received by viewers, reaching over 100 million viewing hours in the first month. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. In 2022, just two months after the series premiered, Netflix canceled it. With a talented cast and engaging storylines that are all about representation, it’s devastating to think about what could have been, and it would be a dream for First Kill to come back so fans can find out what’s next for Juliette and Calliope. 

‘Julie and the Phantoms’

Another cancellation that made fans upset was Julie and the Phantoms. The series, which followed a teenager, who has a passion for music and life and helps a trio of ghostly guys become the band they were never able to be, initially premiered in September 2020. Fans spent months doing campaigns in an effort to get the series picked up for another season, and even though more time flew by without any word from the streamer, that didn’t stop fans from still trying.

It took over a year for Netflix to announce that Julie and the Phantoms was canceled when they finally broke the news in December 2021. Keeping fans on hold for over a year only to cancel it is definitely a double-whammy. To this day, fans are still hoping that their favorites will come back with even more songs, and after that long wait and only nine episodes, it needs to come in at least a movie to give people a proper closure.

‘Lockwood & Co.’

The most recent cancellation on this list is Lockwood & Co. The action-adventure detective drama premiered at the beginning of this year and is based on Jonathan Stroud’s book series of the same name. It follows the first two books of the series, but in May 2023, Netflix canceled the supernatural series after just one season.

Since the cancellation, fans have managed to garner thousands of signatures for a petition to bring it back. As of now, it doesn’t seem like the series will be returning, but considering the amount of fanfare it has, you never know, especially since the cancellation is still fresh.