Netflix has not released an official statement as to why Fate: The Winx Saga was cancelled, but it was likely due to high production costs.
The Winx franchise includes a range of animated and live-action films and shows that have always been popular with audiences. Fate: The Winx Saga (also commonly known as Fate) is the newest addition to this franchise.
However, even though both seasons of the show were incredibly popular on Netflix, the show has been cancelled after its second season, most likely because it was so expensive to produce
The history of the Winx franchise
The Winx Club was originally created by Iginio Straffi and was produced by Rainbow SpA and Nickelodeon in 2004.
The Winx franchise is set in a magical and fantastical world that is filled with fairies, witches, and other magical creatures, which has intrigued fans for decades.
The Winx Club immediately drew in a loyal group of young fans, and this opened the door for various other possible spin-off shows and ventures within the franchise.
This includes the animated series called Winx Club, as well as the Enchantix, Butterflix, and Bloomix animated shows.
These animated shows and films continued to be successful, and some spin-off shows like Pop Pixie, World of Winx, and most recently, Fate: The Winx Saga.
Why did Fate get cancelled?
When the first season of Fate: The Winx Saga premiered on Netflix in January 2022, it quickly became one of the most popular shows on the platform.
In fact, over 57 million accounts logged onto Netflix to watch the show in the first four weeks after its premiere.
As can be expected, the second season of the show did not start with quite as much same excitement as the first when it premiered on 22 September 2022, but it still became one of the most-watched shows on Netflix within a few days after its release.
This second season of Fate had only seven episodes and ended with a major cliff-hanger. This is why fans of the show were so surprised when showrunner, Brian Young, announced in an Instagram post on 1 November 2022 that the show had been cancelled.
The fact that the show was cancelled so soon after its successful second season release caused many fans to wonder why Netflix would decide to cancel a show that clearly still had unresolved plot points and that had become such a fan-favourite series.
However, the reality is that streaming services like Netflix take many different elements into account before deciding to cancel or renew a show; ratings and views are not the only factors that count.
In fact, star of The Sandman, Neil Gaiman, was worried about his own show being cancelled on the back of a successful release because the show was so costly to make.
This means that although Netflix has not yet released an official statement about why they decided to cancel Fate after just two seasons, it is likely because the show was just too expensive to produce.
Why was Fate so expensive to produce?
There are a few factors that contribute to how expensive a show is to produce.
When it comes to the estimated cost of producing Fate, the fact that the show was filmed on location in Ireland, featured many elaborate sets that had to be built especially for the show, and the special effects work required for the magical elements, meant that the show would not have been cheap or easy to create.
The visual effects supervisor that worked on Fate has explained that the special effects shots for a single scene in Fate could cost between $570 and $23000. This really starts to add up over the course of a season.
How did fans react to the news of Fate being cancelled?
Fans were shocked and disappointed when they found out that Fate had not been renewed for a third season, especially since the second season ended at such a pivotal point for the characters.
For this reason, many of the fans that were extremely devoted to the series have started a Change.org petition to try and convince Netflix to reconsider their decision to cancel the show. This petition currently has over 89 000 signatures.
What is next for the Winx franchise?
Since the second season of Fate ended with so many questions still left unanswered, fans have been wondering whether there is a chance that the show may get a spin-off film.
Although this is unlikely, Iginio Straffi, the creator of the Winx franchise, has announced that he is working on many new Winx projects, including a CG Winx animated series reboot and a Winx movie.