Superheroes may be all the rage in recent years, but but the Superman prequel series Krypton won't be living to see another season. The Syfy series has officially been cancelled, only days after the Season 2 finale (now series finale) aired and ended on some promising twists for what would have been a third season. Unfortunately for fans, that's not even all the bad news on the Krypton front. Spinoff Lobo isn't happening anymore either.
While the news of the cancellation after two seasons is undoubtedly disappointing to fans, those who keep up with the ratings may not be altogether shocked. TV Series Finale reports that the Season 2 finale on August 14 attracted just 350,000 viewers in Live+Same day calculations in the key 18-49 age demographic, significantly lower than the Season 2 average of the already meager 408,000 viewers. The ratings in the key demo averaged to only 0.11.
Although cable networks like Syfy often don't require the same kinds of ratings that would keep a show on the air on broadcast network TV, the drop from Season 1 to Season 2 may have played a part in the decision to give Superman's grandfather the axe. In Live+Same day 18-49 calculations, Krypton Season 1 averaged 787,000 viewers and a 0.23 rating. Season 2 marked a drop of more than 54% in the ratings and more than 48% in viewership.
Season 1's viewership on average was bumped up to 1.8 million viewers after three days of delayed viewership, according to THR. The Season 1 premiere had been Syfy's best series premiere in more than three years as well as its most-watched debut in four years.
If Syfy was expecting the same kind of numbers in Season 2, it's no wonder that Krypton was axed. Its odds of survival may not have been helped by the fact that it was produced by an outside studio: Warner Horizon. Of course, we do now live in an era of shows being rescued by other platforms, and the first season of Krypton is already available streaming on DC Universe. Will Warner Horizon shop Krypton around for a second life elsewhere than Syfy? The Expanse found a second life after it was cancelled by Syfy, after all!
Well, there are reportedly no plans to try and find a new home for Krypton, but the Lobo spinoff will be shopped around to other outlets by Warner Horizon. Lobo made his debut in the second season of Krypton.
If Lobo does get picked up after Warner shops the pilot around, would it still be part of the Krypton universe and keep characters, like how Matt Ryan kept on playing Constantine even after his NBC series was cancelled? Or will it keep the same actor but move the character out of the universe, like the Ghost Rider series that will star Gabriel Luna as a different Ghost Rider than he played on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Only time will tell if Lobo even gets picked up. The double cancellation means that speculation about Hawkwoman finally appearing on Krypton will come to nothing. For now, you can catch the first season of Krypton streaming on DC Universe and the first two seasons streaming on Hulu, if you need to pass the time until fall TV premiere season.
