Scavengers Reign
While I have been trying to recommend the brilliant and animated Scavengers Reign to anyone and everyone now that it has hit Netflix after its Max cancellation, the idea it could surge with enough viewership to greenlight a second season on the new services seems like a bit of a longshot, based on what we’re seeing so far.
Scavengers Reign arrived on Netflix on May 31, but in the few days since, has yet to make it onto Netflix’s top 10 list at all. Other new shows have all arrived on the list in short order, Eric, Your Honor, Geek Girl and Raising Voices are all new. Scavengers Reign just hasn’t made it on. Yes, it may be early, but it has an uphill climb if it does not make a larger impact. Animated shows on Netflix may rarely top the charts, but you at least want to be on the list to get a head start.
One of the problems is simply the nature of the show. It’s a little hard to recommend (though I do recommend it) because you can’t fit it into a descriptive box. It’s not action-packed or dramatic anime, it’s not one of Netflix’s cool video game adaptations, it’s not “adult animation” comedy. There just isn’t much like the low-key sci-fi adventure taking place on the most creative alien planet I’ve probably ever seen in on-screen.
Scavengers Reign
Scavengers Reign has its high-profile fans, including creature-crafting god Guillermo del Toro, who tweeted:
“Oh, beauty! Look at that! The future of animation is NOT 100% industry-dependent. It’s already here-the artists are already ahead of it-it’s a tragedy that those that run into the production purchases are blind and enthralled by the safety of looking back.”
Well, the problem is that it is sort of still industry-dependent. While Scavengers Reign was in fact greenlit in the first place, which is progress, Max cancelled it and Netflix, though they seemed open to potentially renewing it, may not if the viewership for season 1 is not there. Again, I think they should based on the quality of the series alone, which stands at a 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, but that’s often not enough. If this doesn’t hit whatever milestone of viewership Netflix wants to see from it, I don’t think there’s a shot at season 2 at all.
If it never ranks on the chart of Netflix’s weekly top 10 recap, we won’t know its numbers, and that will be a bad sign. Fingers crossed it can work its way up there and make enough noise for a second season. But I am not terribly optimistic.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
