Final Space – Picture: TBS/AdultSwim/Warner Bros. Television
Final Space has been hitting the headlines recently given it’s been swept up in the recent HBO Max cuts. Outside the US the show streams on Netflix. That won’t be much longer, however, with the show set to leave Netflix in late 2023.
Netflix first picked up the international rights to Final Space back in 2018 and secured the rights to seasons 2 and 3 in the years after.
As you’ve no doubt come to conclusion, there won’t be a fourth season produced, and the show is now slowly starting to disappear from platforms, including its home in the United States, HBO Max.
As you may know, HBO Max and its embattled parent company Warner Bros. Discovery have been losing some of its animated and live-action titles produced exclusively on the platform for tax write-downs. This is a difficult yet pivotal time for the company as it transitions into the streaming era while managing its ballooning debt pile.
The move has swept up many animated titles, including Final Space.
In a Tweet on September 24th, creator of the show Olan Rogers confirmed the removal of Final Space from HBO Max platforms, saying:
“Five years of my life.
Three seasons of TV.
Blood, sweat, and tears. ……became a tax write-off for the network who owns Final Space.Yup. That’s it. That’s why it’s disappeared everywhere in the USA. Five years of work vanished. When the license is up internationally, Netflix will take it down, and then it will be gone forever. There are no more physical copies of S1 and S2, and no physical copies of Season 3 were ever made. Your memory of Final Space will be the only proof it ever existed unless you own a copy.
I’ve been trying to process how this feels; it’s been hard because it’s just so absurd. Like a tax write-off, really? Or maybe I’ve become so numb to bad things happening in my life because of the frequency with which it has been occurring that I didn’t really register this sting.
But the stinger has broken off underneath my skin. And now it’s annoying. Look, I get it; this decision was just business. But Final Space will always be personal to me. Some might say to give up and move on, and I have moved on to many new projects that I’m very passionate about, but I will not give up on this story and these characters. I will never stop fighting for Final Space. If it takes years, then so be it! #renewfinalspace
It’s a banner that you all have been waving, and it’s a rallying cry I can stand behind while I continue into this long dark night chasing an ending for this story.
-Olan”
Picture: Warner Bros. Television
When will Final Space leave Netflix?
Our current intel says that Netflix is set to lose Final Space in locations such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, and all the other countries that host Final Space in December 2023.
Specifically, we’re told the series will depart in full on December 16th, 2023.
We’re not sure why it’s set to leave Netflix at this time, as typically, it licenses content for several years following the final season, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
As noted above, once the show departs Netflix internationally, there will likely be no legal way of watching the title beyond the limited number of physical copies of season 1 and 2.
Will you miss Final Space once it leaves Netflix? Let us know in the comments.