Fans of Chloë Grace Moretz sci-fi series distraught as Amazon cancels series despite ordering second season

Reports suggest that the writers’ and actors’ strikes played a part in the cancellations

Amazon has cancelled its original series The Peripheral despite renewing the show for a second season back in February.

The sci-fi series told the tale of Flynne Fisher (played by Chloë Grace Moretz), as she navigated time travel, robots, avatars, secret missions and the apocalypse.

Citing sources, Variety and Deadline reported Friday (18 August) that the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes had played a factor in the decision to cancel the show. Due to the studio’s backlog, the second series of The Peripheral would have been delayed until 2025, the publications reported.

The Independent has contacted Amazon Prime Video for comment.

The cast of season one also included Jack Reynor, Gary Carr, Eli Goree, Louis Herthum, JJ Feild, T’Nia Miller, Charlotte Riley, Alexandra Billings, Adelind Horan, Alex Hernandez, Katie Leung, Julian Moore-Cook, Melinda Page Hamilton, Chris Coy, and Austin Rising.

On X (formerly Twitter), fans of the show shared their disappointment at the news.

“SO MAD AT THIS,” one person wrote.

“When do we go back to making good shows and keeping them alive instead of bringing out 100 shows per year and cancelling them again after 1 season. I’m tired of this,” said another.

Others bemoaned the fact that The Peripheral had not wrapped up its storyline after the first season.

“First [Netflix’s] 1899, now this, both great shows that ended on insane cliffhangers but got cancelled after their first season. Makes me not want to start any shows that aren’t already completed,” one fan wrote.

“@PrimeVideo @amazon You have the same genes with Netflix, cancelling many good shows without proper ending,” raged another.

“What a waste.. solid original first season that set-up what I expected to be an insane second season,” a third added.

It was also reported on Friday that Amazon had cancelled A League of Their Own (a TV adaptation of the 1992 Tom Hanks movie), again after renewing the show for a shortened final season back in April.

It’s now been one month since the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined striking WGA members in the demand for fairer pay.

It is the first time that screen actors as well as writers have simultaneously withheld labour in over 60 years, and has resulted in an effective shutdown of Hollywood.