Starz Cancels 'The Serpent Queen;' Aims for 'Queen Elizabeth I' Spinoff

The Serpent Queen's second season ended with a bloodbath and a bang. The series reached one of the most memorable parts of Catherine de Medici's reign as queen of France: St Bartholomew's Massacre. This massacre is actually well known to modern audiences, as it's the basis for Game of Thrones' famous Red Wedding sequence from Season 3. In a series retelling the life of one of France's least understood women rulers, ending a second season with it made sense after the first ended with her in power as Regent as her underage son crowned. However, it's only one of many exploits France's queen pulled off, leaving the show with multiple directions to go. However, despite there being so much more history to dive into, Starz has decided to cancel the series and chase after making one based on Season 2's hot character, Queen Elizabeth I, played by Minnie Driver.

It's one of several cancellations this week. However, unlike, say, Kaos, which was barely given a second to exist before Netflix trashed it, The Serpent Queen was given Starz's best go, two seasons that debuted on both its linear channel and its streaming service, one episode a week, as much promotion as a small-time TV network can afford, especially one that was just axed from its parent company and money source, as Lionsgate exited the network, letting it sit in the corner until someone offers enough money to buy it.

That doesn't make the cancelation any less infuriating, or the sudden pivot to trying to make a guest star character suddenly the center of her own show no one asked for. Queen Elizabeth I has had award-winning films and TV shows made about her already; no one had made an ongoing series about Catherine De Medici, period.