Summary

  • A Shadowhunters season 4 or revival series is unlikely due to ownership issues and the complexity of getting all parties involved.
  • Fans still hope for a revival, but the question of ownership makes it difficult and costly to continue the series.
  • If a revival were to happen, there are possibilities for new storylines involving Clary regaining her memory and the new generation of Shadowhunters.

A Shadowhunters season 4 or revival series is seemingly unlikely according to cast member Alisha Wainwright. Wainright starred in the Freeform series as Maia, a werewolf in the world of Shadowhunters who strives to do what's right for her pack. Though the series is based on a young adult series of novels, the show took some liberties with the source material and making a unique and immersive world for the television show. A previous adaptation, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, was a movie starring Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell-Bower, didn't see the kind of box office return that earned it the City of Ashes sequel, prompting the TV series adaptation instead with a new cast.

Shadowhunters is an adaptation of Cassandra Clare's popular book series, The Mortal Instruments. It follows Clary Fray, a seemingly normal girl who, on her eighteenth birthday, discovers a secret world of supernatural beings. Clary is a Shadowhunter, an angel-human hybrid, who has a duty to hunt and destroy demons to protect humanity and the world at large. The series ran for three seasons on Freeform, with the finale debuting in 2019. The season three finale was a supersized special episode, but that hasn't stopped fans from wanting to see Shadowhunters season 4 come to fruition.

Why Shadowhunters Season 4 Likely Won't Happen

Jace And Maia At The Hunters Moon In Shadowhunters

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant promoting her movie There's Something Wrong with the Children, Wainwright discusses the possibility of reviving the fan-favorite supernatural series Shadowhunters. She talks about the continued popularity of the series, with fans still connecting with it. She also explains the issues regarding ownership of the property and why she believes it is a long shot.

Alisha Wainwright: I forget who owns the rights to it. It's all very interesting when you get into the math of who has the right to distribute. But I do know that a lot of the cast members do these conventions, if you want to see them. No one's approached me about any sort of reunion, but it's way more complicated than you would think in order to get it going again.

But obviously, Shadowhunters has a very special place in my heart. I learned so much about acting and the craft, and it just would be really cool to get everyone back together. It breaks my heart when I see it trending on Twitter! You guys don't understand; you have to make literally so many bigwigs sign off on the same thing. I just don't think it's gonna happen, you know?

Related: The 10 Best Characters In Shadowhunters, Ranked

Constantin Film, a German production company, is the production studio that brought both the movie and the television series based on Cassandra Clare's books to the screen. The company partnered with Screen Gems to bring the movie to the big screen, but several studios were involved in bringing the series to television. It's likely that Constantin Film still holds the screen rights to the stories since there have been no public reports of screen rights being purchased or passed to a new studio, but other studios that helped to bring the show to television or to streaming distribution might also have stakes in the property. Constantin Film would then have to be interested in making a Shadowhunters season 4 in order for it to continue, but there could also be contracts with other production studios to consider.

What A Shadowhunters Revival Might Look Like

The characters of Shadowhunters in season 3 from left to right: Alec, Magnus, Luke, Clary, Jace, Simon, Maya, and Isabelle

Shadowhunters ended in 2019, but fans are still hoping to see the story continue with Shadowhunters season 4 or a movie revival. However, based on what Wainwright says, a revival does not seem likely. The question of ownership makes it especially tricky because it makes it more difficult and likely costly to get off the ground. However, many series have had unexpected revivals, even years later. Given the continued support from fans, it may not seem likely, but it isn't impossible either.

Although the Shadowhunters series finale wrapped up the main storylines, it also set up a new world order. Alec is the Inquisitor of the Clave and married to Magnus, who becomes the High Warlock of Alicante. Isabelle takes over from Alec as the Head of the New York Institute and is dating Simon, who becomes a Downworlder Deputy of the institute. Luke becomes a Shadowhunter once again, and Maia takes his place as alpha of the werewolf pack. While everyone else is given a happy ending Clary was stripped of her Shadow World memories and Jace is unable to move on. However, in the final moments, Clary is once again able to see Jace and seems to remember him.

This sets up interesting new possibilities for the Shadow World if a Shadowhunters revival comes to fruition. It would likely center around Clary potentially regaining her memory by earning the angel's forgiveness and trust. It would also be interesting to see how the Shadow World coexists when run by the new generation. A new threat could be introduced, bringing the original team back together and presenting Clary with the opportunity to prove she should have the opportunity to become a Shadowhunter again if that is what she desires.

RELATED: Shadowhunters Best Episodes

What Shadowhunters Season 4 Would've Looked Like

Simon and Isabelle lean in close in Shadowhunters

When Shadowhunters ended with season 3, it was actually a surprise for showrunners Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin. Some of the storylines that were planned to have longer arcs ended abruptly so that the series could end open storylines. Shadowhunters season 4 would have seen some of those storylines play out a bit more slowly.

One of those things is the final moment between Jace and Clary in the series. Despite Clary being stripped of her Shadowhunter status and not remembering her experiences or even not having sight, she is able to see and recognize Jace in the show’s flash forward. That was intentional, according to Swimmer, who told Entertainment Tonight that she was meant to be a Shadowhunter. Swimmer and Slavkin didn’t initially plan for Clary to lose her memory but added that and the time jump when they knew the show was ending. Instead, Clary’s Shadowhunters season 4 journey would have seen her healing from the Dark Clary storyline. Slavkin told ET:

…she would have really been healing over the guilt she felt over Dark Clary and the terrible things she did and would’ve been cleaning up that mess. And Jace would have been helping her, like, get back to normal. I think Jace and Clary could’ve had this normalized relationship – at least for Shadowhunters. A peak in the normalcy and I think the fandom would have craved that a little. Those moments that we’ve had when they’ve gone out on their dates – like the ice skating moment and the moment in early in season three when they went to dinner with Simon. These are these great human moments that stand out, and again I think we would've leaned into that more.

Simon and Izzy’s relationship was planned to be even more of a slow burn than it was in season 3. The season was originally meant to end with a kiss between the two, but one that would have left fans hanging a bit. Slavkin also explained to ET:

The original end of season three was their kiss and then fire consumes Izzy. That was going to be the end of season three and then we would've spent the entire season four having to heal Izzy and there would still be more of a slow burn. So in a weird way, Sizzy fans got it early. They lucked out because we had to jump the gun.

One interesting Shadowhunters season 4 storyline for fans would have also been the larger involvement of Jonathan and the Seelie Queen. Both of those storylines had to be resolved in season 3 when the series ended, leading to the deaths of both characters. There were plans to feature the Seelie Queen throughout an entire season, slowly building the relationship between the two characters, according to an interview with the showrunners with Entertainment Weekly. They “never would have killed the Seelie Queen this early” and wanted to take their time with the story, but like so many seeds planted in season three, no coming Shadowhunters season 4 season meant the storylines had to be truncated.

If Shadowhunters season 4 had happened, there also would have been more time spent with supporting characters that were slowly being integrated into season 3 storylines and villains like Lillith would have had longer story arcs. The big picture is that many Shadowhunters storylines were forced to be shortened or dropped in the wake of the series ending. Both showrunners, despite not holding the screen rights to Shadowhunters themselves, have commented on being open to the possibility of a reunion movie or limited series if a deal could be worked out in the future. So, while Shadowhunters season 4 is unlikely, it’s not impossible.