The 100 prequel has been officially canceled by its parent network, leaving many wondering if the franchise is dead forever. The CW Network recently announced that it would not be moving forward with the spinoff, which was meant to expand on the origins of the Grounders and tease a look at the first Flamekeeper a century before the events of the original series. However, it appears that The 100 prequel is truly dead and buried after The CW confirmed that the stalled origin story would not see the light of day, at least on their network.
The original series The 100 follows a group of criminal teenagers tasked with returning to Earth and determining whether or not the planet is now habitable after a nuclear apocalypse devastated humanity three generations earlier. These teenagers are sent from the Ark orbiting Earth into the hostile terrain of the planet, home to various vicious groups known as Grounders who have survived the radioactive fallout.
While replete with one-dimensional, stereotypical characters, The 100’s captivating premise and deft handling of themes like tribalism and the morally complex problem of overpopulation made the series a huge hit for The CW, with seven big 2014 seasons. to 2020.
However, despite a clear audience appetite for more content from The 100’s core story, the series’ prequel was canceled due to a choppy production timeline. Though greenlit as early as October 2019, the project never made it to series after a series of hiccups like a joint run on The CW, and HBO Max failed to materialize. While it’s unclear if the canceled prequel will be bought out by other network suitors, it’s likely that the unnamed prequel’s infancy will work against the series coming to term at this point.
However, despite the details of these story plans, The 100 prequel never made it to any significant production stage. The CW Network initially stopped the prequel from becoming a series in May 2020, but reserved the option of keeping it alive for a joint run on The CW and HBO Max simultaneously. However, it seems the patience to get The 100’s origin story off the ground has faltered, with The CW ending up shutting the door on it in November of last year.
While the unnamed prequel The 100 seems dead in the water given the lack of core components in place, it would be insane to rule out a return of the series or, indeed, the franchise entirely. The CW’s abandoning the origin story now opens the door for another network to revive the prequel’s ideas, with The 100’s original distributors, Warner Bros, perhaps first in line to reject it.
Ultimately, the demise of The 100 series prequel was inevitable due to delays and lack of growth surrounding the project, making the series an easy target for cancellation.
