Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s a tough time for fans when they hear the news that their favourite show is getting the chop. In fact, we spent a whole other article on how to deal with the fallout of a series cancellation, but as tough as it is, that sort of news always seems to keep coming our way.
Earlier last month we went into mourning again with Netflix’s announcement that this year’s season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina would be its last. And whilst the cast and crew seem to be philosophical about the show’s cancellation, fans immediately rallied to try and save their favourite show.
And then, most recently, whispers have begun to emerge in various corners of the web that there may be some small glimmer of hope that a fifth season may be possible after all. So in a bid to sort out fact from fiction, we resurrected the Supanova Scuttlebutt-o-meter©®™ (patent pending), muttered a few arcane spells and put it to the job of sniffing out the likelihood of the rumours that Sabrina may live to see another day.
So, what’s the goss?
So various parts of the web would have it that Warner Bros., who own the rights to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, may be intending to bring it back for a fifth season on their own recently launched streaming service HBOMax.
Where did this all come from?
It probably took all of six seconds after word of Sabrina’s cancellation for die-hard fans to begin rallying together and start petitions to bring back their favourite show for another season via another network or service. Indeed, the series showrunner and creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa had revealed that there were indeed plans for a fifth season before the announcement to cancel the show was made, and that in the wake of Netflix’s decision their original plans for season five would now be made in comic book form instead.
Thank you for all the love, #sabrinanetflix fans. Part Four is our best yet and Part Five, “Witch War,” would’ve been AMAZING. To be continued in the pages of #CAOS comic book… 💔🔮☠️🍔👨🏻💻 pic.twitter.com/wNvTfxYNfX
— RobertoAguirreSacasa (@WriterRAS) July 10, 2020
But now, only a handful of weeks after Roberto’s announcement, various articles citing “anonymous sources” are making the suggestion that Warner Bros., who are currently looking to establish a collection of original content for their new US-based streaming service HBOMax (much of which Australian audiences will be able to access via Foxtel’s new Binge streaming service) is considering stepping in to save the show for their fifth season and add it to their own ever-growing roster.
So, what’s the verdict?
If history teaches us anything, it’s that these kinds of rumours always seem pop up when a fan-favourite show is cancelled. Indeed, very similar rumours were circulated when Netflix first cancelled Daredevil and the web gossip was there was a chance for a series revival on the Disney-owned Hulu network. It turned out, however, that the licensing rights Netflix held with Marvel prohibited Marvel Studios from being able to do anything else with the Daredevil characters until 2021, blowing all chances of a Daredevil series revival out of the water until at least then.
At the moment it’s not exactly clear whether Netflix has a similar rights deal in place with Warner Bros. who are the Sabrina IP’s main owner, but if they were seriously looking at a comic book version of season five, there very well might not be. Until Warner Bros. make any official announcement, however, it’s all little more than whispers and gossip at this stage.
So with all this in mind, what’s the likelihood we’ll see Sabrina season five on our TV screens? Well after Supanova Scuttlebutt-o-meter©®™ (patent pending) summoned the dark forces and peered into the nether realm, its hair turned white and spat out a 63.42% likelihood. It would seem we are destined to get Sabrina season five in some form, the only question will be whether it will be in a comic on our screens.
As such its probably best to declare this rumour as PLAUSIBLE, BUT FAR FROM A CERTAINTY.
