'Genuinely exhausted' Joss Whedon no longer part of his HBO show, The Nevers

Joss Whedon is no longer working on The Nevers, his HBO series centering on a group of Victorian Era female superheroes. Variety confirms. 

“We have parted ways with Joss Whedon,” HBO said in a statement. “We remain excited about the future of The Nevers and look forward to its premiere.”

Whedon — of Buffy, Firefly, and MCU fame (and recent DCEU infamy) — came out with a statement of his own, saying that the struggles of producing the show during a pandemic were too much for him physically.

“This year of unprecedented challenges has impacted my life and perspective in ways I could never have imagined, and while developing and producing The Nevers has been a joyful experience, I realize that the level of commitment required moving forward, combined with the physical challenges of making such a huge show during a global pandemic, is more than I can handle without the work beginning to suffer,” said Whedon (via a statement to Cinemablend), who wrote the series and directed at least one episode.

“I am genuinely exhausted and am stepping back to martial my energy towards my own life, which is also at the brink of exciting change,” Whedon continued. “I am deeply proud of the work we have done; I’m grateful to all my extraordinary cast and collaborators, and to HBO for the opportunity to shape yet another strange world. The Nevers is a true labor of love, but after two plus years of labor, love is about all I have to offer. It will never fade.”

HBO picked up The Nevers as a straight-to-series production roughly two and a half years ago. Created by Whedon, the show is a Victorian Era sci-fi drama about a group of women who have extraordinary abilities, and are on a mission to save the world.

The series resumed production in early fall. It stars Laura Donnelly, Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Ann Skelly, Ben Chaplin, Pip Torrens, Amy Manson, Eleanor Tomlinson, Denis O'Hare, Zackary Momoh, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Elizabeth Berrington, Ella Smith, Viola Prettejohn, Anna Devlin, and Martyn Ford.

According to Deadline, The Nevers is still set to debut Summer 2021.