Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight has a bone to pick with Syfy. DeKnight recently took to Twitter to chat with fans, and among the topics that came up was the brilliant end credits sequence of Spartacus: War of the Damned. DeKnight's reaction was to note that Syfy "completely fucked" the end credits...
The above Tweet was in response to a fan stating that "the end of Spartacus had me in tears... and Andy's post-credit appearance - perfect."
In case your memory is rusty, or you still haven't gotten to the end credits of Spartacus: War of the Damned in your Netflix binge, the series closes out with an intense montage of all of the characters from Season 1 forward, leading up to the lead character, played by Liam McIntyre in the final two seasons (Vengeance and War of the Damned) and Andy Whitfield in the original season, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Check it out...
Andy Whitfield tragically passed away after the first season of Spartacus aired. A prequel season (Gods of the Arena) aired after Season 1, and after that, the role of Spartacus was recast with McIntyre. The great thing about the finale's closing credits was that it not only offered one last tribute to many of the excellent characters who were in the series throughout its run, but it also led to that powerful moment where Whitfield screams out that classic line, "I am Spartacus."
Between the sex, nudity, language and violence, It's likely that Syfy had to make some edits to the series in order to make it a bit more suitable for basic cable. But it's unlikely that content would have affected whatever they did to the end credits. I wasn't able to find video of the closing moments of the series as they aired on Syfy, but if I were guessing, based on how basic cable tends to run credit sequences when they air movies, it's possible they did that thing where they roll the credits at double speed, or else mash them to one side of the screen to make room for the intro of whatever they're airing next. Regardless of what Syfy did to the end credits of the finale, it sounds like DeKnight isn't thrilled with it. And given how thoughtful that sequence was, I can't say I blame him.
Also, points to DeKnight for what I'm going to accept as a Mutant Enemy nod with the "Grr. Argh."
Alas, those who want to see the series in its proper, original form, can head over to Netflix and watch all four seasons. And speaking of Netflix, come this April, Steven DeKnight's next big project will arrive to the binge-watching masses in the form of Marvel's Daredevil.
