‘That was never the plan’: Arcane creators reject claims the hit Netflix show would last five seasons
- ArcaneThe makers of the hit series have revealed the truth about the rumored plan for five seasons of the hit series
- It was always going to end after two seasons, despite what a recent report claims
- The rumor stemmed from a prank co-showrunner Christian Linke pulled years ago
ArcaneThe show’s creators have dismissed reports that the hugely successful show was originally slated to run for five seasons.
I previously spoke exclusively to Ny Breaking Arcane season 2 makes its Netflix debut on November 9, Christian Linke and Alex Yee said the situation had been blown out of proportion. Indeed, the pair admitted that it was all just a simple misunderstanding, the origins of which stemmed from a prank that former Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent pulled on Linke years ago.
Linke and Yee’s response follows a Variety article published on November 6. Citing sources close to the production of the Netflix series, the outlet suggested as much Arcane was originally supposed to last five seasons. Unsurprisingly, the story spread like wildfire across the internet, leaving fans – myself included – wondering why Riot and Netflix had decided to take the time. Arcane after two seasons.
As it happens, Arcane Season 2 was always going to be the final chapter of the popular animated series. Linke told me that a two-season arc was agreed upon “from the beginning.” And, as Linke and Yee further explained, Vi and Jinx’s story was always going to wrap up after two seasons.
“When we started building out the story after the pilot (which we showed internally at Riot), we thought, ‘Okay, it’s going to be two seasons,’” Linke revealed. “It was never intended to last five seasons.
It’s almost the opposite of what people have interpreted it to be
Alex Yee, Arcane co-creator
“But what happened was – I think we had the pilot or a few episodes, but we still didn’t have the green light for a full season. At the time, Nicolo thought it would be really funny to pull me into a room. and say, “Hey, I know you haven’t had the green light yet, and I’ve decided I’m not going to give it to you.” I sat there quite upset before he added, “Because I’m giving you the go-ahead for five seasons!” both laughed, but it was, you know…”
“It’s almost the opposite of what people have interpreted it to be (the five-season rumor),” Yee interjected. “Making an animated series – it has such a long development pipeline that it was a lot for us to ask them (Riot’s executive team) to entrust us with one season. But we also said, ‘If you want it to be short after that comes another season’ that we have to start working on it while we finish the first one.’ So that five-season joke was their way of saying, “Hey, we want to give you a lot of attention with this.”
“Yes, then we said, ‘Okay, it’s going to be two, and then we’ll grow from there,’” Linke added.
Finished? Only 24 hours until #Arcane Season 2 premieres on @netflix. pic.twitter.com/0Qf6ixBBLINovember 8, 2024
That “we’ll grow from there” quote still suggests there may have been talk of another episode. So, were there any discussions about expanding the original season 2 plot across two more entries? After all, HBO is taking a similar approach with regard to Naughty Dog’s TV adaptation The Last of Us Part 2 video game, the story of which will extend The last of us season 2 and a follow-up season.
“Honestly, the story that ends this season is the one we set out with the rest of the team from the beginning,” Yee confirmed. “I think we imagined ways it could go further, but one more season was the milestone we always wanted to achieve.”
“Long story short,” Linke added, “five seasons was nothing but foolishness on our part.”
In the coming days and weeks, I’ll be bringing you more exclusive content from my chat with one of Netflix’s top showrunners, so contact me soon for more insights. In the meantime, check out some of the other Season 2-focused articles I’ve written previously ArcaneBelow is the performance of the world’s best streaming service.