Scavenger's Reign
The streaming world is getting weirder by the year, and if you want more evidence, look no further than what’s going on with Netflix, Max and the 2023 animated series, Scavengers Reign.
It was simultaneously announced that Max had cancelled Scavengers Reign after season 1, but also that season 1 was then heading to Netflix, as part of the ongoing deal the two services have. Though it doesn’t usually work that quickly.
So, Scavengers Reign will arrive on Netflix on May 31 (you can still watch it on Max right now), but it’s not just that Netflix is getting streaming rights, the service is actually thinking about picking it up for a second season, which would mean it hops homes completely. That decision, however, will not be made until after it airs and no doubt it is going to be all about how it performs when it hits.
It’s hard to see it…performing exceptionally well. Not because it’s bad. It’s actually incredible. But it is a deeply weird show not in an absurdist Rick and Morty way, but one that takes at least 3-4 episodes to build and a lot of attention to detail and parsing emotions to appreciate. It’s the kind of show I’m frankly amazed got greenlit in the first place as it’s almost too creative and seems like something that could have been smothered early. But instead it made it to release and I would argue it’s the best animated series of last year. Best debut one, anyway. And perhaps not include anime. But it’s really good, and has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 94% fan score.
Scavenger's Reign
Scavengers Reign tells the story of different members of a crew stranded on various parts of a hostile planet full of the wildest flora and fauna designs I’ve ever seen in sci-fi. It’s hard to compare it to anything. Maybe Annihilation, though not that bleak, and the designs are way, way past “deer with flowers on its antlers.” You just have to see it.
Rather than tell you watch it now, I am actually going to wait to recommend that you watch it on Netflix when it hits on May 31. Why? Because I want it to do well there and if you watch it on Max now, where they’ve already cancelled it, instead of on Netflix later, where they are looking at numbers to see if they should renew it, then that’s not going to be helpful to the cause. And the cause is most definitely trying to get this thing a season 2 to see how much weirder it can actually get.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
