Fans Rally: Petition To Revive Netflix’s Harry Potter Rival Canceled Too Soon Smashes Major Milestone
Once billed as Netflix’s best shot at a Harry Potter-scale franchise, Shadow and Bone may be cut short—but its army of fans isn’t. A fast-surging global petition has blasted past a can’t-ignore threshold, cranking up pressure for a revival.
Netflix may have shuttered Shadow and Bone before it could turn into the mega-franchise some were hoping for, but the fandom clearly is not done. A fast-growing Change.org petition to bring the Grishaverse back is racking up signatures worldwide, and the numbers are getting big enough to be hard to ignore.
Quick refresher on the show we just lost
Shadow and Bone is a fantasy/adventure/drama series based on Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows. Eric Heisserer served as showrunner. Season 1 dropped on April 23, 2021; Season 2 landed March 16, 2023. It currently sits at 7.5/10 on IMDb and 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
From the jump, this was seen as Netflix's closest swing at that elusive next big, long-haul fantasy juggernaut. And it had the pieces: existing global readership, a stacked ensemble the internet quickly adopted, and a world dense enough to run for years without running dry.
Why fans want a real Season 3 (and why the cancelation stings)
This adaptation was built for multiple arcs, and we only saw part of the plan. Season 2 deliberately left big threads on the table. Nikolai Lantsov's darker turn had barely started — a key storyline in the books — and the finale set the Crows up for their next chapter by tipping into the jurda parem plot, which is one of the defining beats in the entire Grishaverse. None of that got a payoff, so the cancellation feels less like an ending and more like someone hit pause mid-sentence.
Did the show actually perform? Short answer: yes
Season 2 made noise internationally, cracking Netflix's Top 10 in 85 countries during its release window. At the same time, viewers boomeranged back to the beginning: Season 1 pulled 24.07 million hours viewed and ranked No. 5 globally in that window (via Deadline). Add in the built-in audience from the books, a cast that kept gaining momentum, and a lore-rich sandbox with clear routes for future arcs, and you can see why fans expected a longer runway.
The petition is surging — and there is precedent
Beyond hashtags, this push is spreading across platforms and has turned into one of the more determined revival campaigns of the year. And yes, these things sometimes work. A few recent wins:
- Lucifer: Fox canceled it in 2018. Fans launched a global #SaveLucifer blitz within hours, it trended for days, and Netflix swooped in for more seasons.
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine: After Fox axed it, fans, cast, and assorted celebs lit up social feeds. The outcry went worldwide, and NBC revived the show in under 48 hours.
- The Expanse: Fans went beyond petitions and literally flew a banner over Amazon Studios HQ to spotlight the demand (via Deadline). Amazon picked the series up.
- Sense8: Smaller but intensely loyal fan pressure convinced Netflix to order a feature-length finale so the story could actually land the plane.
So, could Shadow and Bone come back?
Never say never. When fandoms are loud and persistent, studios listen. A third season here would not just be more episodes — it would finish arcs the show already set in motion and pay off a world a lot of viewers are still invested in. Industry-nerd note: few fantasy shows launch with a universe this developed and this many clean on-ramps for future stories. That kind of head start is rare.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Shadow and Bone are streaming exclusively on Netflix. Think it deserves another shot? Drop your take in the comments — and yes, sign the petition if you want to see those Crows fly again.