Tag: First Kill

When the marketing for First Kill kicked off back in May, the marketing seemed to enjoy drawing comparisons to Buffy the Vampire Slayer while also trying to use the teenage lesbian aspect as a selling point. The marketing never truly went beyond either, giving First Kill shaky legs to begin with, only for the poor reviews to tear the Netflix series down further. So, it’s no surprise that the showrunner, Felicia D. Henderson, has spoken out against the show’s poor marketing, citing it as the reason it was ultimately canceled.

Two days after the news broke that First Kill would not be returning for Season 2, Henderson sat down to speak with the folks at the Daily Beast about the cancellation. “I so enthusiastically signed on to this show [because] it has something for everyone,” she explained. “Strong women leads, supernatural intrigue, an epic, Shakespearean battle between warring families, and a prominently featured Black family in the genre space, something Black viewers crave and a general audience needs to be treated to.”

However, as she notes, while the marketing for the series was stunning, it never really did a great job at selling what First Kill was about. “The art for the initial marketing was beautiful. I think I expected that to be the beginning and that the other equally compelling and important elements of the show — monsters vs. monster hunters, the battle between two powerful matriarchs, etc. — would eventually be promoted, and that didn’t happen.”

Here are some of the posters released for reference.

While Henderson’s comments are understandable, it’s also worth noting the romance aspect was the center focus of the story. Still, Netflix did fail to showcase the powerful families in the series, as well as the various monsters lurking nearby.

While First Kill did make Netflix’s Top 10 for within its first week, the show had trouble with audiences completing the series. Deadline reports that First Kill ranked at Nov. 7 with 30.3 million hours watched, peaking at No. 3 in its first full week of release with 48.8 million, going on to clear 100 million hours viewed within its first 4 weeks. Despite all of that, the series lacked the competition hours necessary for Netflix to renew it.

Still, in the end, Henderson is grateful for Netflix did do. “They licensed the IP, paid for a pilot script, and gave it a healthy production budget.”

First Kill is streaming now on Netflix.

Source: Daily Beast.

Fans have been anxiously awaiting a renewal decision regarding First Kill. Unfortunately, though, for fans of the young adult vampire drama, the series is not coming back for a second season. The news was revealed by Deadline late on Tuesday evening, although a reason for the cancellation was not revealed.

First Kill was based on a short story by bestselling author Victoria “V. E.” Schwab and was often compared to Buffy the Vampire Slayer upon its launch because of its concept. The series, however, had a bit of a twist as this time around the series put LGBTQ+ characters front and center. Felicia D. Henderson, who worked on shows like Fringe and The Punisher, wrote for the series and served as the showrunner, also executive produced the series alongside Schwab. Actress Emma Roberts also served as a producer on the series.

The series focused on a teenage vampire named Juliette Fairmont, played by Sarah Catherine Hook, and a new girl in town named Calliope, played by Imani Lewis. Much like with Buffy, the series focused on a forbidden love story between Juliette and Calliope, who just so happened to be a hunter. The show follows them as their forbidden love also forces them to address their first kills and the consequences that come with it all.

News of the show’s cancellation is surprising in that it has proven to generate plenty of buzz on social media. Fans have been campaigning for the show’s renewal on Twitter for weeks now, responding to random tweets on Netflix’s account calling for First Kill to come back. With Season 1 ending on a massive cliffhanger, it’s doubtful fans will ever get a satisfying conclusion to the series on the small screen.

The entire first – and only – season of First Kill is now streaming on Netflix.

Source: Deadline.