Fan-favorite archaeologist and adventurer Lara Croft has smashed back onto Netflix for a new season of the original show Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. As Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life prepare to depart Netflix on January 1st, the streamer on December 11th released the second and final season of its Tomb Raider spinoff series.
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All eight episodes of the show are now available to stream on Netflix, officially wrapping the show’s short 16-episode run that began back in 2024. The series is based on Crystal Dynamics’s iconic Tomb Raider video game series and takes place after the events of the 2018 game Shadow of the Tomb Raider as Lara, voiced by Hayley Atwell, must confront her traumatic past as she is thrust into a high-stakes chase around the world. In Season 2, Lara is in a race against time to uncover ancient African relics before a techno-visionary can use them to unleash worldwide destruction.
Why Is Netflix’s Tomb Raider Series Ending After 2 Seasons?
Just two months before Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft returned for its second season, Netflix announced that Season 2 would be the last. The streamer failed to provide a reason for the cancellation decision, but it most likely boiled down to a disappointing viewership performance (Tomb Raider only had a short run in the bottom half of the Top 10 following its debut) and, likely most importantly, a lukewarm response.
Although the series debuted with a relatively warm reception from critics, earning a fresh 73% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, it wasn’t as well received by the general audience. The series only scored a 33% rating with audiences, with issues stemming from what was perceived as a boring plot that lacked any depth or compelling villains and enjoyable side characters. Fans’ biggest issues centered around Lara herself, the show transforming the classic, strong, self-sufficient Lara fans love into a character that just didn’t feel much like herself and seemed weaker and less capable than previous iterations.
Reviews for Season 2 haven’t yet rolled in, and the new batch of episodes doesn’t yet have critic or audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, so it remains to be seen if the general consensus is that the show righted wrongs and went out with a bang or fumbled the landing.
What’s Next for the Tomb Raider Franchise?
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft has officially wrapped its run on Netflix with the December 11th arrival of Season 2, but the show’s cancellation doesn’t spell doom for the franchise as a whole – far from it. Numerous Tomb Raider projects are currently in the works, including an upcoming game and an Amazon Prime live-action series starring Sophie Turner as the iconic Lara Croft. Phoebe Waller-Bridge will serve as creator, writer, and executive producer on the upcoming series, which was officially greenlit in May 2024 and doesn’t yet have a premiere date. Sigourney Weaver is reportedly in talks to join the cast, though her potential role is unknown.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
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