Picture: Netflix
Netflix’s new adult-animated comedy featuring the voices of Jason Ritter and Lesley-Ann Brandt is now on Netflix, but will there be a season 2 or a part 2? Despite original plans for a second season, it won’t be moving forward at Netflix.
Created by the duo behind Netflix’s excellent and overlooked Norseman series, Captain Fall dropped onto Netflix at the end of July 2023, telling the story of a sea captain who finds himself now helming a ship working on behalf of a cartel.
Captain Fall has an initial upfront order of two seasons
When the show was announced in July 2020, Variety mentioned how the show was given an upfront order. This is common in animation, where multiple episodes are ordered upfront. This is due to the nature of animated productions and how they’re created compared to live-action.
Their article states:
“Netflix has ordered 20 episodes of the show to be released in two parts.”
Case closed, then? A season 2 consisting of 10 episodes is definitely on the way. Not quite.
Joel Trussell, who serves as an executive producer and showrunner, posted on LinkedIn shortly after the first ten episodes were released, suggesting it may come down to viewership numbers as to whether more will be on the way.
Sharing an article from BolaVIP about the show’s early success (not citing any sources beyond “we see it trending”), he suggests those next ten episodes are/have been in development but may not see the light of day if the viewership is not big enough.
Trussell stated in a post on LinkedIn:
“We have 10 more episodes fully written, recorded and storyboarded that will complete the season if we get enough viewership.”
Further clarifying that viewership needs to be good, Trussell held an AMA on Reddit where he stated:
“Any type of watch, share, rating, comment, click, clack or otherwise is so helpful as try to game the algorithm. We already have another 10 episodes written, recorded and storyboarded and ready to animate, but they will only be produced if these first 10 get a robust reception so I really appreciate the support!”
In another response, Trussell was asked whether the next ten episodes would be part 2 of season 1 or season 2:
“Technically this is just the first block of season 1. That’s why the first 10 ends with a cliffhanger, because we made it to have a complete arch over 20 eps. We’d love to share the whole thing with the world but need help from people like yourself spreading the word! Thanks for asking!”
Captain Fall canceled in November 2023
In mid-November 2023, when Hollywood had begun recovering from the two respective strikes, Netflix via Deadline announced that it had axed a bunch of shows.
Among those shows was Captain Fall, which, as we’ve outlined above, was already on thin ice.
Per Deadline, they state:
“Captain Fall‘s cancellation comes in the midst of Season 1. The animated series had been picked up for a 20-episode first season to air in two parts. The decision not to proceed comes after Part 1, released in July, failed to draw a large audience.”
How well did Captain Fall perform on Netflix?
Following its premiere, Captain Fall didn’t feature in the English language series’ global top 10 list. Still, according to FlixPatrol, it has featured in the TV top 10s for many countries but notably not critical regions like the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom.
Reviews have been mostly positive for the series thus far, with a 7.0 on IDMb.
Would you like to see Captain Fall return for season 2? Let us know in the comments below.
