Why was Wynonna Earp canceled? Is season 5 still possible?

Earlier today, we brought you the news that Wynonna Earp is ending at Syfy after a four-season run. Now, we want to get into another big question: Why?

The move today is shocking mostly because at one point, Syfy had quietly greenlit the fan-favorite series for a fifth season. Alas, multiple things have happened since that point that all contributed to this decision.

A complicated studio situation – According to The Hollywood Reporter, there are a lot of complications here. IDW Entertainment co-produces the show with Cineflix Studios. Meanwhile, Cineflix sold the international rights to the first four seasons, which helped to get more money end to fund the fourth season. Because there are so many metaphorical cooks in the kitchen, Syfy doesn’t get all of the revenue themselves — therefore, it’s not as immediately profitable as other NBCUniversal projects.

The pandemic – With the vaccine rollout happening, we think this is less of an issue moving forward — but there’s no denying that it is far more expensive to shoot content in this crisis.

New leadership – Sometimes, a change at the top is the reason why a show ends. Syfy is being overseen now by different people in Frances Berwick and Susan Rovner, who are prioritizing cross-platform performance with Peacock and other NBCUniversal brands. Not having the full rights to the show, coupled with lower live+same-day ratings, was something that clearly, they did not want to move forward with. They have a different creative and priorities now.

Can a season 5 still happen?

Certainly it’s possible, but it’s far from guaranteed. We’re hesitant on a lot of occasions to scream “bring Wynonna Earp to Netflix,” given that it’s such a default for people to campaign there over any other network/streaming service. However, it actually makes sense to petition them in this regard. It’s a beloved series with a great global audience, and Netflix is a global platform who can properly fund and deliver the show. It did work with Lucifer; so why not this? Netflix should already have some internal data on it.

The aforementioned THR story notes that there will be an attempt to land the show another home.

Related – Read more on the cancellation

Do you want to see Wynonna Earp season 5 to arrive somewhere?

Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: Syfy.)