HBO’s Lovecraft Country not returning for 2nd season, showrunner Misha Green teases what could have been

Despite the show’s immense popularity, HBO’s multiple award-nominated series Lovecraft Country will not be returning for a second season.

“We will not be moving forward with a second season of Lovecraft Country,” HBO said in a statement obtained by SYFY WIRE. “We are grateful for the dedication and artistry of the gifted cast and crew, and to Misha Green, who crafted this groundbreaking series. And to the fans, thank you for joining us on this journey.”

The first 10-episode season of Lovecraft Country was based on the book by Matt Ruff. Showrunner Misha Green used that novel and its characters as the foundation for the first season, and used the horror/SFF genre to focus on the stories and experiences of people of color.

After the popular and critical success of the series — the show’s cast and crew received 49 nominations and 6 wins overall, including a Golden Globe nomination for best drama series — both HBO and Green were interested in exploring a second season.

“Misha is working with a small team of writers and they’re coming up with a take. She had a book to go on in the first season, she and the writers wanted to go off and take some time to go out and figure out without a book with these characters, what’s the journey we want to go on,” Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer of HBO and HBO Max, told Deadline in February 2021. “We all want to be sure she’s got a story to tell. That’s where she is right now, working on those ideas. I’m very hopeful, as is Mischa, so we’re giving them the time to work.”

Green initially had some ideas where a potential second season could go. In October 2020, she shared that she envisioned a future season that “carries on the spirit of Matt Ruff’s novel by continuing to reclaim the genre storytelling space that people of color have typically been left out of.”

The decision to not move forward with another season was one that all parties — Green and HBO — came to together, according to a Deadline story today.

Following the announcement, Green briefly gave her vision on Twitter for what would've been in the cards during a now hypothetical second season, dubbed Lovecraft Country: Supremacy: "A taste of the season 2 bible...thank you to everyone who watched and engaged. #noconfederate."

In Green's tweet, a map of the United States is shown, though it's now been dubbed the "Sovereign States of America." As the map's ominous logline puts it, Lovecraft's sophomore season would begin in a "new world" where the U.S. is divided into four color-coded territories: the New Negro Republic, the Tribal Nations of the West, the Jefferson Commonwealth, and the Whitelands. Two locations — one in Texas, and another in Pennsylvania, both part of the Whitelands— are also marked on the map, implying the importance of both states.

Unlike some other showrunners who have used Twitter to talk at length about what would've been if their show hadn't been canceled, Green is letting the image speak for itself, as she hasn't provided any other information on the map or any other teases from the story bible. 

Lovecraft Country starred Jonathan Majors as Atticus Freeman, Jurnee Smollett as Leti Lewis, Michael Kenneth Williams as Montrose Freeman, Aunjanue Ellis as Hippolyta Freeman, Courtney B. Vance as George Freeman, and Wunmi Mosaku as Ruby Baptiste. You can watch the show's 10 episodes on HBO Max.