Well this is upsetting. Disney+ has cancelled the hit superpowered comedy ‘Extraordinary‘ after two seasons, alongside cancelling their adaptation of ‘Shardlake‘ after one season.
‘Extraordinary’ followed Jen (Máiréad Tyers), a young, self-aware woman who lives in a world where everyone has a superpower… except her. It’s a comedy about being young and finding your feet in a confusing world when all you’ll ever be is “ordinary”. It is a celebration of the anti-superhero, permitting people to embrace their general okay-ness.
The cast also featured Ex-cat/Jen’s boyfriend Jizzlord (Luke Rollason), and Jen’s best friends Kash (Bilal Hasna) and Carrie (Sofia Oxenham).
“We’re so proud of the hilarious, award-winning series brought to life by the incredibly talented British and Irish cast and crew, our production partners at Sid Gentle Films, and the exceptional writing talent of creator Emma Moran,” commented a Disney+ rep…
I do find cancelling the show a slightly odd way of showing their appreciation for an award-winning series with 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which also ended on a cliffhanger, but here we are…
“Disney+ Original series, ‘Shardlake’ will also not be returning for a second season on the service,” adds the Disney rep. “We’d like to thank Stephen Butchard who adapted the late C.J. Sansom’s beloved novel for the screen, the entire cast – led by the outstanding Arthur Hughes – and crew, and our production partners The Forge and Runaway Fridge. We hope to work with all of our partners across these shows again in the future.”
Based on the novel series by C.J. Sansom, the Tudor murder mystery drama starred Arthur Hughes (‘The Innocents’, ‘The Archers’) as Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer with an acute sense of justice and one of the few honest men in a world beset with scheming and plots. Shardlake works for Thomas Cromwell, played by Sean Bean (‘Time’, ‘Lord Of The Rings’), the dangerous and all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII.
This cancellation is a little less surprising. Whilst the series was good, it did seem a little out of place on Disney+, and more something which would have fitted the BBC. It was, at least, a self-contained story, so can still be enjoyed as a limited series.