Culture

Netflix cancels fantasy drama Fate: The Winx Saga – fans react

By Sam Damshenas

2nd November 2022

Fate: The Winx Saga has been cancelled at Netflix after two seasons.

Although the second season of the fantasy drama hit the top spot in 76 countries in its first two days of release, showrunner Brian Young shared via Instagram that Netflix has “decided not to move forward” with a third season.

Young called their decision “especially tough” because of the show’s dedicated fanbase.

“It’s a heartbreaking silver lining, but a silver lining all the same. I’m so proud of everyone who worked on the show, and so happy we got to tell the stories we did. Our cast and crew put in a ton of hard work creating this world and these characters,” he wrote.

“I’m grateful for each and every one of them, and for all of you for watching. It’s been an amazing four years. Hopefully we’ll see each other again in the future.”

Based on the Nickelodeon animated series Winx Club, created by Igninio Straffi, the series is set at a magical boarding school in the Otherworld called Alfea and follows the journey of five fairies – led by Bloom (Abigail Cowen), a powerful fairy from Earth with fire-based abilities.

Fate: The Winx Saga also stars Hannah van der Westhuysen, Precious Mustapha, Eliot Salt, Elisha Applebaum, Danny Griffin, Sadie Soverall, Freddie Thorp, Eva Birthistle, Robert James-Collier, Eve Best, Lesley Sharp, Theo Graham, Jacob Dudman, Ken Duken, Brandon Grace, Éanna Hardwicke and Paulina Chávez.

While the show received mixed reviews, viewers praised the LGBTQ+ representation. In a recent interview, Young – who is gay – said the show has developed a passionate queer fanbase because, “We feel very, very different. It’s like, “Oh, well, I’m different, but in a way that makes me powerful.”

“The manifestation of having powers feels like that. LGBTQ+ storylines in general, it’s all about taking that thing that makes you different and making it powerful. The whole show is a little bit analogous to a gay storyline.

“That’s always going to be at the heart of it. It’s really just about harnessing that experience of feeling different and turning that into what makes you special.”

Fans didn’t react too kindly to Fate’s cancellation and called on Netflix to wrap up the series with extra episodes.

“Even if the series ain’t likable or just pure flop, Netflix needs to give us a closure. We did not pay 10 dollars a month just for this,” tweeted one viewer, while another said: “Netflix, if you want to cancel, at least make a proper ending to it.”

Check out the reactions from Twitter below.