If you’d been meaning to find out how Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s extremely dramatic Westworld plays out through its fourth and final season, you might want to do so fairly quickly. The series, which was canceled last month, is among the latest titles to be marked for removal by HBO Max, according to Variety.
It’s joined in streamer purgatory by the Joss Whedon-created The Nevers, which is now canceled as well.
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The Nevers only ever got half a season—one that couldn’t quite get out from under the shadow of Whedon, despite having an excellent cast. Variety reports, “Sources close to the situation say it’s possible that the already finished batch of episodes—which were completed under new showrunner Philippa Goslett, who came on board following the exit of Whedon before the show even debuted—will air on another platform.”
The same could potentially be true of Westworld, which was canceled before its creators could wind up their planned six-season story. According to Deadline, sources say both shows “are likely to resurface on other company platforms.”
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of HBO Max, has been trying to find ways to cut costs since Warner and Discovery merged earlier this year. They have laid off staff, canned the Batgirl film in favor of a tax write-off, and pulled shows; Westworld and The Nevers are just the latest to get the ax. As Variety notes, “The removal of shows from HBO Max means WB Discovery is able to save money in residuals paid to cast and crews of productions, on top of the money saved by not continuing with the shows at all.”
Both shows are still on the platform at the time of this writing.
