'Legacies' Has Been Canceled by the CW After Four Seasons, but Why?

For fans of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, Legacies was the CW's latest attempt at continuing the story of vampires, werewolves, witches, and humans in Mystic Falls. The show, which is currently airing its fourth season, was canceled by the network on May 12, 2022, per Deadline.

When fans caught wind of the news, they were outraged, immediately taking to Twitter to start a #SaveLegacies campaign. Fans of other CW shows that were canceled recently have also been protesting the network's mass cancellation of well-beloved shows. Why was Legacies canceled? Here's what we know.

When The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009, no one could predict if the "vampire boom" of the early 2000s was over. However, showrunner Julie Plec quickly realized that the vampire craze was alive and well, and The Vampire Diaries ran on the CW for a total of eight seasons. During TVD's fourth season, the spinoff show The Originals was born, which focused on a powerful family of vampires in New Orleans.

Five seasons later, The Originals had ended, and the CW created Legacies, a spinoff of The Originals that fit right into the franchise TVD built. The show's main character, Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell), is the daughter of characters from The Originals, and she attends the Salvatore Boarding School that was created in the Vampire Diaries finale.

Although the reasons for Legacies ending are currently murky, some theorize it has to do with creator and executive producer Julie Plec setting her sights on different supernatural franchises. Currently, Plec is working on a reboot of Vampire Academy for Peacock and an adaptation of the comic book series Dead Day for the streamer as well.

Fans started to worry the show would get canceled after series regular Kaylee Bryant, who played Josie Saltzman, departed in Season 4, Episode 9. One of the other series leads, Matthew Davis, who plays Alaric, is also rumored to be leaving the show before the series finale.

Another factor in Legacies' cancellation might be specific to all CW shows. Due to the recent sale of the CW network as a whole, with majority shareholder Warner Bros merging with Discovery, it's likely that, should the CW close its doors for good, many of the DC Comics–centric shows will get moved to HBO Max. However, that leaves non-superhero content in the balance, so it might be for the best that Legacies is ending now rather than later.

Much like Riverdale, The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, it's likely all four seasons of Legacies will (hopefully) be available to stream on Netflix as soon as the series ends. The show's Season 4 finale (and series finale) is scheduled for June 16, 2022.

Legacies resumes episodes after its brief hiatus on June 2, 2022, at 9 p.m. ET on the CW.