Picture: Getty Images / BOOM! Studios
Having first been unveiled to be in development in 2021, Netflix is still moving forward with its live-action adaptation of the hit comic series Something Is Killing the Children with Dark and 1899 creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese on board, taking over from Mike Flanagan. Here’s everything you need to know as of 2024.
The project is the first for Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese after re-upping their eight-figure series deal for Netflix in February 2023. The duo will be producing and writing the series. Another project, Tyll, was also in the works at one point at Netflix from Odar and Friese and was being developed at the same time as 1899. Since the cancelation of 1899, it’s been unclear whether the pair would remain at Netflix, and the current status of Tyll remains unclear.
Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese
Something Killing the Children was first conceived and announced to be in development at Netflix in July 2021 with Haunting of the Hill House and Midnight Mass creator Mike Flanagan and his long-time partner Trevor Macy attached. Following a year in development, in October 2022, The Wrap reported that Flanagan left the project shortly after the cancelation of The Midnight Club. He exited his overall deal with Netflix in December 2022 and moved to Prime Video. Flanagan’s last production with Netflix, The Fall of the House of Usher, arrived in late 2023.
Boom! Studios’ Stephen Christy and Ross Richie continue executive-producing the adaptation, with co-creators James Tynion and Werther Dell’Edera co-executive producing. Boom! Studios have several upcoming adaptations at Netflix, including BRZRKR, David Fincher’s The Killer, and more.
Why Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese agreed to work on Something is Killing the Children
In April 2023, the creative duo spoke to the Brazillian outlet O Globo on their decision to work on the new Netflix series, saying (translated from Portuguese):
“It was a project that won us over in the title. As you can see from the things we do, we love to kill children (laughs). I do not know the reason. It’s about a young woman monster killer who visits small towns looking for creatures that kill children. It’s a world where only children can see the monsters. It has a whole conspiracy behind it, several elements that we like a lot, a little bit of Stephen King, and a lot of metaphors about what these monsters represent. It will be an American series, made in the United States and with an American cast. It will be our first series made in the USA.”
What’s the plot of Something Is Killing the Children?
Published by Boom! Studios and co-created by DC Comics writer James Tynion (Batman) and Werther Dell’Edera, Something Is Killing The Children is one of the most successful original English-language comic series of the last five years, selling more than two million copies worldwide and winning multiple Eisner Awards including the 2022 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series.
Here’s the synopsis for Something Is Killing the Children:
“When the children of Archer’s Peak begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible stories of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to see what they can see. Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters.“
What’s the production status of Something Is Killing the Children?
Netflix’s Something Is Killing the Children is still in active development as of 2024, and showrunners Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese are still writing the scripts. We still don’t know of any cast members attached to the show nor do we know the episode count.
On August 13th, 2024, BOOM! Studios posted an update on X with the script for episode 2 of the first season, titled “The Princess and the Warrior.”
Picture: BoomStudios / X
We know almost nothing about which shape Bo Odar and Friese “inherited” the project from the previous creators. Although it looks like they very much started from scratch.
Picture: Boom Studios!
What’s the Netflix release date for Something Is Killing the Children?
Netflix hasn’t announced any release dates for Something Is Killing the Children. Still, given its early development stage and the fact that showrunners Odar and Friese usually take their time to ensure everything is perfect. Don’t expect the show to be on our screens any earlier than late 2025 (if not 2026).
Editor’s Note: Contains contributions from Kasey Moore.
Are you looking forward to Something Is Killing the Children on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.
Netflix Synopsis: "When mysterious events change the course of an immigrant ship headed for New York in 1899, a mind-bending riddle unfolds for its bewildered passengers."
