Hulu has officially canceled the Stephen King series Castle Rock. The show first premiered on the streaming service in July 2018 to generally positive reviews, while season 2 dropped a little over a year ago in October 2019. Much like fellow horror series American Horror Story, Castle Rock was styled in an anthology format. Taking place in the titular fictional town created by genre legend King, Castle Rock featured references and characters from several of King's works, making it one of the many, many adaptations of his stories.
Castle Rock season 1 primarily focused on lawyer Henry Deaver (André Holland) as he returns to his hometown at the request of a mysterious inmate (Bill Skarsgård), while season 2 depicted the origin story of one of King's most memorable villains, Misery's Annie Wilkes (Lizzy Caplan). Since Castle Rock season 2 came to an end nearly a year ago, fans have wondered what would become of the Hulu series. While the show earned positive reviews from critics, it was never clear if Castle Rock was high on Hulu's list of priorities.
Now, fans finally have their answer about Castle Rock's fate. TVLine reports that Hulu has officially axed Castle Rock, leaving fans without a third season. The report didn't explain why the streaming service chose to cancel the series, which was created by Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason. This comes in the months following Hulu's decision to cancel shows like High Fidelity and Reprisal.
Considering how it took about a year to come to this decision, Castle Rock's cancellation isn't exactly a surprise. It's unfortunate that the anthology show won't live to tell another delightfully creepy tale, but at least the format has given fans come closure when it comes to its season-long stories. Castle Rock's season 3 story hadn't been revealed just yet, so there's no feeling of being cheated out of a specific plot. That, perhaps, can be seen as a comfort by fans.
For those who enjoy King's works, Castle Rock is far from the end of the story. The prolific author has numerous adaptations on the way, from The Stand series on CBS All Access to the many in-development films, like the Zac Efron-starring Firestarter. Plus, almost to fill the void left by Castle Rock, the HBO series The Outsider will get a second season. It's certainly disappointing that Castle Rock won't be back for a third season, but there are still plenty of King-related projects to look forward to.
Source: TVLine