Fandom wins again. After a long campaign to revive Netlifx’s Warrior Nun, it seems the ambitious and determined protesters behind #SaveWarriorNun are reaping the rewards.
Warrior Nun, which ran for two seasons on Netflix, amassed a steady and vocal fanbase during its tenure. In December 2022, just weeks after season 2 premiered on the streaming platform, Netflix declined to renew Warrior Nun for season 3—and came face to face with an outraged fanbase. Not only did the series end on a trademark Netflix cliffhanger, as many canceled Netflix Originals do, but there was an additional reason why fans of Warrior Nun seemed particularly angry.
The show’s most prominent sapphic ship, lovingly nicknamed Avatrice, finally became canon towards the end of Warrior Nun season 2. Here was another LGBTQ+ show getting the axe, specifically one with a lesbian couple front and center, and fans had had enough.
Given the stats, the decision at the time was quite baffling. Though Warrior Nun season 1 had received middling reviews, season 2 still—to this day—holds a 100% critics score and a 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and held its spot in the Top 10 for three weeks after its release.
In response to the cancellation, an intense and arduous fan campaign to save the show was born. You may have seen #SaveWarriorNun in the replies of almost every tweet from Netflix’s official accounts, but there was more to it than that. Online petitions gained traction, and there was even enough funding for multiple billboards placed strategically in front of Netflix’s headquarters in both Los Angeles and New York City.
The campaign may have seemed excessive to some, but the result speaks for itself. On June 28, Warrior Nun creator Simon Barry tweeted that fans’ efforts had been anything but futile. The show will return–though in what form and with which cast members is still unknown.
However, Digital Spy did confirm that Warrior Nun will not be returning to Netflix. The network or streamer that picked up the show remains a mystery, but more information is bound to be revealed soon.
Warrior Nun‘s revival is not the only time a persistent fan campaign has worked. Netflix itself brought back two shows previously owned by other networks (Manifest and Lucifer) when news of their cancellations broke the internet, and when Sense8 was canceled and fans displayed a similar amount of rage, the series was given a wrap-up movie to ensure all storylines would at least be resolved.
With the tenuous and unpredictable nature of show business these days, especially in light of the ongoing (and wholly commendable) writers’ strike and studios deciding to throw away projects left and right, the revival of a show like Warrior Nun provides a glimmer of hope for the future.
(featured image: Netflix)
