By The future of the DC Universe streaming service was in doubt after the cancellation of Swamp Thing led to trade reports and fans to assume the worst; WarnerMedia also including DC content in the new HBO Max streaming service was no help either. Luckily, loyalists of the service can stop holding their breath, with official confirmation that Doom Patrol, probably the most celebrated original from the service, will be coming back for a second season.
It may have been lost in the midst of all of the big Marvel Studios news, but a San Diego Comic-Con panel for Doom Patrol with executive producer Jeremy Carver and “Crazy Jane” actress Diane Guerrero in attendance announced the renewal. For whatever reason, it took some time for the news to get out, leading to some anxiety from fans. Luckily, a deal involving HBO Max, a “champion of the series” according to Deadline, is to thank for the show’s survival. As such, when the service launches in spring of 2020, it will include all 15 episodes of the first season.
After I burned out on Titans, a show that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (but was still a little bad), I didn’t have much confident in the streaming service’s line-up. I actually wasn’t too fond of the first couple of episodes of Doom Patrol; it seemed to be subversive for subversiveness sake, and it overall felt uneven, despite some fantastic casting. Eventually, I learned that this evenness was somewhat by design, and made the show stronger thematically.
Whether you enjoy it or not, there isn’t really anything else like it on television at the moment. As the show got wackier, I had even more fun, especially in realizing that all of these absurd characters (i.e. Danny the Street, a non-binary genderqueer sentient street, or Flex Mentallo, whose powers involve magical flexing) are real concepts from the comic book source material. It’s too unique to let go of. Yeah, it sucks that there are too many streaming services around, but if they’re going to lead to more creative shows such as this one, we might as well wait and see how this all pans out.
‘Doom Patrol’ Renewed For Season 2 By DC Universe Via Deal With HBO Max – Comic-Con [Deadline]