Following in the wake of the Merlin cancellation announcement, the show’s production company is beginning to consider potential spinoffs.
While the BBC series Merlin is set to end after its current fifth season, this might not be the end of the Arthurian legends.
Though details are sparse, Deadline has reported rumours that Shine TV and FremantleMedia, the production companies behind Merlin, are “in the early stages of developing potential Merlin spinoffs using the universe created in the series.”
While this news follows what we have previously reported about the showrunners working on developing potential continuation/reboot movies, there is one big twist: Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy have announced that they are leaving Shine TV to start their own production company, and therefore, they would likely not be involved in any future Merlin spinoffs.
There is no word on whether these spinoffs could potentially feature the same actors, or whether they’ll re-cast the characters but keep them the same ages and with the same basic personality traits. The main actors already seem ready to let go of Merlin and their characters, but there are plenty of characters that feature prominently in the legends who might benefit from taking center stage in future projects.
Would you be interested in seeing some of the Merlin characters’ stories explored in more depth? Or would the lack of involvement of the showrunners and/or current actors put you off?
If you could see them developing these spinoff shows, what would you like to see? We’re predicting The Adventures of Gwaine, and possibly a prequel series featuring a young Uther! Or maybe the Tristan and Isolde characters could make a comeback? Share your picks in the comments!
Read what the Merlin cast had to say about the imminent end of the show, and what Hypable readers have been saying on the site and in our forums. We’ve also got a great reaction piece submitted by one of our readers, which points out how little time fans now have to prepare for the end.
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