Netflix has decided to cancel Kaos, its dark comedy series based on Greek and Roman mythology, after just one season.
The decision comes roughly six weeks after the show premiered on the platform. While Kaos made it into Netflix’s top 10 charts for English-language series for four consecutive weeks, peaking at No. 3 for the week of 2nd-8th September, it appears that its overall performance wasn’t strong enough to warrant a renewal.
Created by Charlie Covell, best known for The End of the F**ing World*, Kaos reimagined ancient mythology in a modern-day setting. The series starred Jeff Goldblum as Zeus, with Stephen Dillane as Prometheus, a god punished for defying Zeus. The story followed Prometheus as he sought to overthrow Zeus with the help of three humans: Eurydice (Aurora Perrineau), Ariadne (Leila Farzad), and Caeneus (Misia Butler). The ensemble cast included Janet McTeer, Cliff Curtis, David Thewlis, Rakie Ayola, and Suzy Eddie Izzard.
Despite its unique premise and strong cast, Kaos drew only 14.9 million views globally in its first four weeks—a moderate figure by Netflix’s standards. In the U.S., the show managed 3.34 million views by 8th September, according to Nielsen’s streaming ratings (no viewing data for later weeks have been unveiled).
Aurora Perrineau, who portrayed Eurydice, expressed her sadness over the cancellation in a heartfelt Instagram post. “Well… this one hurts,” she wrote. “When I started auditioning for this show, I knew it was special, mainly due to the fact that Charlie Covell’s scripts resonated with me in a way most things hadn’t. I knew all of these people, and I loved them all — every flaw, everything.” Perrineau went on to describe how much the role meant to her: “When I got cast, I couldn’t believe that someone SAW me. A girl who’s not only a minority but also a survivor of SA… I was worthy of that? Everything that happened from that point forward really changed my perspective.”
Perrineau also praised the team behind the show, calling out her co-stars Misia Butler, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Killian Scott as “lifelong friends” and acknowledging the hard work of the entire cast and crew. “We made something weird, dark, hilarious, deranged, and absolutely tragic — something entirely human,” she added.
Kaos was executive produced by Charlie Covell, Chris Fry, Georgi Banks-Davies, Jane Featherstone, John Woodward, Nina Lederman, and Tanya Seghatchian.
