5 Cancelled Netflix Cartoons That Should Actually Be Rebooted in Live-Action

July 12, 2026, 11:01am

Netflix has long understood the importance of original programming, with the likes of Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Wednesday being examples of television shows that have helped elevate the streaming service. To no one’s surprise, the platform has tried its hand at the world of animation, seeing both success and failure when it comes to creating new series. Thanks to Netflix releasing live-action adaptations of One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender, now seems like a great time to revisit some of the canceled animated series that would work well with a live-action return.

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5.) Strip Law

Strip Law is one of the latest, and most unfortunate, examples of an animated series on Netflix that was unable to get the chance to truly gain an audience. The series focuses on Adam Scott’s Lincoln Gumb as he attempts to partner with Janelle James’s magician Sheila Flambe to add some “razzle dazzle” to his practice. Also starring the likes of Stephen Root, Shannon Gisela, and Keith David, the series was canceled earlier this year following it premiere this February, which is truly unfortunate thanks to how funny the ten episode animated series could be. Considering that the series, while funny, is far more “slice of life” than many of the other entries on this list, it seems like this property could work well with a live-action adaptation that transitions its voice actors to a real world Las Vegas. The animated series never found its audience so re-packaging the show as a live-action comedy might be the best approach for a resurrection.

4.) Castlevania

Now to be fair, Castlevania and Castlevania: Nocturne weren’t so much canceled, as far as we know, as given the chance to wind down their stories, but we’d be lying if we said we wanted to see the Belmont clan never return to television. In light of horror series like From and Widow’s Bay, giving us a live-action take on the Konami franchise would work exceptionally well. Vampires, mermen, werewolves, and even the Grim Reaper are traditional parts of the Belmonts’ fight against Dracula, and if the animated series proved anything, it’s that the characterization of the main players works just as well as its supernatural beats. Another good reason to focus on a live-action adaptation is that you could still make a story that takes place in the animated world of Trevor and Richter, focusing on either their ancestors or those who fought creatures of the night long after they passed.

3.) Cuphead

This might be one of the biggest headscratchers on our list, but there is a way that Cuphead could really work on the small screen. To start, the general feel of this video game adaptation is more of an early 1900s aesthetic for its bizarre world, and with how Spider Noir successfully recreated this time period, this is possible to easily translate. Of course, for Cuphead, you can’t quite put human beings into the characters’ shoes, but that’s where the use of puppets and animatronics could come in. Netflix has experience in creating an entire series using live-action puppets, as the one-season long series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, did just that. Incorporating puppets from The Jim Henson Company would be the best way to deliver to viewers a live-action take on this beloved video franchise and would work as an excellent way of bringing back the likes of Cuphead and Mugman.

2.) Tuca & Bertie

Tuca & Bertie first got its start on Netflix in 2019, but did not release its following two seasons on the streaming service. Instead, the animated series was given a lifeline by Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, where we were able to witness the titular birds continue to struggle with relationship issues and the troubles of modern day life. Obviously, creating a live-action series where anthropomorphic birds, plants, and more would be a tall order, but a live-action adaptation of this world could work. Specifically, the characters wouldn’t need to be birds or plants or animals, but the tale could work with all the voice actors reprising their roles as human beings. Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong have long perfomed in live-action television series and feature-length films, and seeing them star in a new series to bounce off one another would be perfect for resurrecting the comedy series that went from Netflix to Cartoon Network.

1.) Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was the Scott Pilgrim project that many fans never expected to see. Bringing back most of the cast of the live-action film, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the anime adaptation from Science SARU presented a radically new take on the universe spawned from the brain of creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. Instead of recreating the original story, Takes Off instead created an alternate reality that saw Scott taken off the board early into his fight against Roman’s evil exes. This far different reality could open the world to more stories that rework the original story, either by recasting the cast or by bringing back certain members as older iterations of themselves. It’s a shame that we won’t see Science SARU returning to this wild new take on Scott Pilgrim’s world but a new live-action series would help the franchise return to the path laid out by the feature-length film.

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