The OA Creators Turned Down Netflix's Offer to Wrap Up Series

Fans were devastated when Netflix cancelled The OA, not only because it had such a passionate following after only two seasons, but because there were so many unresolved narrative threads that supporters would never see fulfilled. The cancellation saw a massive surge of support from fans on social media to revive that project, with co-creator Zaj Batmanglij recently confirming that there was a point where Netflix offered him and Brit Marling the chance to wrap up the narrative with a movie, though they opted not to pursue the opportunity, as they knew it wouldn't afford them enough room to develop a satisfying conclusion. 

"The OA ending was unexpected to me, but they did try to get us to wrap it up with a movie and we said no. So I didn't feel burnt because of that; I felt more puzzled," Batmanglij shared with The Hollywood Reporter. "If you're Netflix, why don't you just finish it with more than just a wrap-up movie? Why don't you finish it with a third season? It would force us to bring the three [remaining and planned] seasons into one and close it up, and then you could outsource it to Max or Hulu or wherever. You can do so much with it if it's finished. This idea of all these unfinished homes littering their platform, I just don't see the economics of it. It's much better to have a finished thing and then license that thing and make money off that thing for the next 10-to-20 years."

He added, "So we didn't feel bitter about it, and when Darby [Emma Corrin] came to us, we just saw, as Brit said, a beginning, middle, and end. But maybe, subconsciously, we were [protecting ourselves]. But everything these days is a limited series in the sense that the season has become the new pilot. Big Little Lies was a limited series, but it's now an ongoing series. True Detective was a limited series, but it's ongoing. So it's smart to do a beginning, middle, and end for any season that you do."

Despite how much time has passed, Marling also recently shared that she wasn't giving up hope on getting to resolve the series at some point.

"What's so sad is we even cried with our executives. Some of the fans are upset with Netflix, and I try to explain: The people who were really there making it loved it, too, and gave everything to it," Marling shared with Vulture earlier this month. "I think the strikes have made it more apparent that there was a whole shift in the model of the entire business. Everybody suddenly had to make more, make it for less, make it appeal all over the world at the same time. And OA, despite its huge and loyal following, just fell in that gap."

She added, "But I think about it all the time. And some part of me -- I don't feel that it's ended. In my mind, I understand that it's ended. But in my body, I feel like it's something that has gone dormant. If the right conditions and circumstances come again, it will grow. I really do think that."

Stay tuned for updates on the possible future of The OA.

Do you wish the series wrapped up with a movie? Let us know in the comments!