A longtime mystery behind Raised by Wolves has a new answer. An executive producer says the show’s fate changed after a major merger. The sci-fi drama ended after only two seasons despite building momentum with critics and viewers. Years later, executive producer David W. Zucker has shared what he says ultimately stopped the planned third season from moving forward.
Raised by Wolves EP blames WBD merger for Season 3 cancellation
During an interview with ScreenRant at the 2026 Italian Global Series event, Zucker said the creative team expected to continue the series. According to him, HBO Max was “ready to do” another season before the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger reshaped the company’s priorities. He said that after “David Zaslav came in,” the planned third season was “set aside.”
Produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions, Raised by Wolves followed two androids raising human children on the distant planet Kepler-22b after Earth was devastated by war. Their mission becomes increasingly dangerous when the religious Mithraic faction arrives, creating a conflict between science, faith, and survival. The series features Amanda Collin, Abubakar Salim, Travis Fimmel, and Niamh Algar.
Although the show ended abruptly, Zucker has not completely given up hope. He admitted he would “personally wish” to bring Raised by Wolves back someday. He also noted that he never expected Scott’s team would produce television stories connected to worlds like Alien or Blade Runner, adding that he still hopes the series “might have another day.”
The cancellation came during a turbulent period for Warner Bros. Discovery, which also shelved Westworld before its planned conclusion and later removed both series from HBO Max as part of broader cost-cutting efforts. Raised by Wolves earned stronger reviews in its second season than its first and currently holds a 76% critics’ score for Season 1 and 86% for Season 2 on Rotten Tomatoes, leaving many fans disappointed that its ambitious story never reached a proper ending.
