Summary

• The Mist TV series was canceled by Spike, and the chances of The Mist season 2 are unlikely due to mixed reviews and a lack of audience excitement.
• The Mist season 2 would have explored the origins of the mist and focused on a military conspiracy, but the story never advanced beyond the first season.
• While there is still some hope for a continuation of The Mist, with a petition and the popularity of the movie adaptation, audiences can find closure by watching the well-received 2007 film.

Spike never ordered The Mist season 2 — but will the Stephen King story ever return to TV? The Mist Netflix revival brought hope that The Mist season 2 could happen, but nothing has been said. Frank Darabont tried to mount a film adaptation of the Stephen King book for years and finally succeeded with 2007's The Mist. While the film's modest budget sometimes shines through, it was an intense, terrifying ride that vividly brought King's story to life. The film is also famous for its stunningly bleak ending, which remains controversial to this day. The novel has also provided inspiration for video games like Half-Life and Silent Hill.

The Mist was adapted once more by Spike in 2017 for a TV series, before The Mist Netflix changeover. Given that 10 years had passed since the movie's debut, the show should have been able to capture audiences' attention. However, the series struggled in its debut season. Despite The Mist featuring a strong cast, the show received mixed reviews, focusing on its clumsy handling of characters and changing key elements about the mist itself. It still attracted a fanbase keen to see where it could continue from season 1's intriguing cliffhanger, so is The Mist season 2 ever happening?

Spike Cancelled The Mist In 2017

Unfortunately for viewers, Spike canceled The Mist shortly after the first season ended. There was some hope that The Mist Netflix changeover might prompt The Mist season 2 to be greenlit after putting the first season on their platform — however, this never came to be. The fate of the show was always up in the air following its mixed reception, but while season one left the door wide up for the story to continue, it seems a general lack of excitement over The Mist doomed it.

The Mist Season 2 Would Have Explained Where It Came From

Both the show and book version of The Mist are vague on the origins of the mist itself. There's a suggestion that a military experiment went wrong and unleashed it on the town by mistake, but this is never confirmed. The Mist season 1 ended with the survivors watching a military train unloading people into the mist — essentially feeding it — setting up a military conspiracy to be the main conflict for The Mist season 2. What this means is that The Mist season 2 was set to finally uncover this Stephen King mystery, but the story never saw the light of day.

The Mist Season 2 Is Unlikely To Happen

Ultimately, Spike's TV series The Mist failed. Given the lack of movement on the show moving to another network or platform like Netflix, The Mist season 2 looks very doubtful. There's a lot of potential in the concept of a Mist series, but sadly, Spike's show mishandled the material. The show took a psychological horror approach to The Mist and failed to include the horrific monsters from the book — a decision that ultimately backfired. The show's lack of likable characters was another issue, so while the material itself might be adapted again in the future, The Mist season 2 isn't likely.

Could There Be Hope For The Mist TV Show?

Despite the fact that The Mist season 2 still hasn't happened over five years later, audiences have shown that they're still interested to see the series continued. Putting The Mist TV show on Netflix boosted audience interest and viewership, even causing those angered by the show's cancelation to craft a change.org petition pleading with Netflix to continue the series. As of now, the petition has over 24,000 signatures, proving that there is an audience (albeit a small one) who wants to see The Mist season 2. Public outcry has saved series in the past, with the prime example being the sitcom Community.

Not only that, but The Mist movie was on the coveted Netflix Top Ten list for a while, bringing audiences straight to the television series. Between the popularity of the film and the petition, it's possible that there is hope for The Mist season 2. However, what's more likely to happen is, rather than continue on the series, The Mist could see either a revival or an entirely new series. Stephen King adaptations have yet to go out of style, and The Mist was one of the more popular. The Mist season 2 might not happen, but it's not the last time the story will be told on the screen.

The Mist Movie Tells The Same Story But Better

One of the biggest complaints about The Mist TV show is the lack of monsters that run rampant in the feature film, killing the chances of The Mist season 2. Ultimately, the movie did a better job of telling the full story than the television series. Even Stephen King praised the movie adaptation. Truthfully, it almost doesn't matter whether The Mist show gets an ending or not, as fans can simply go watch the 2007 The Mist movie for closure. Though the conclusion of the film is different from that of the book, at least people can watch the movie knowing that it contains the author's seal of approval.

There's also an argument to be made that since the movie already came out, and to widespread appeal, the audience for The Mist television show simply wasn't there. People already know the story and have seen stellar on-screen renditions of The Mist's interdimensional Cloverfield-scale monsters. It's entirely possible that people were happy with the first go at an adaptation, so a second, more drawn-out one didn't really need to happen. There are plenty of movies that are also adapted into TV shows, and vice-versa, but The Mist is a notable case where one is of a vastly superior quality to the other.