Television

Netflix renews Ryan Murphy’s controversial Monster series for two additional seasons

By Jordan Robledo

7th November 2022

Evan Peters in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Netflix has renewed Ryan Murphy’s controversial Monster series for two more seasons.

Back in September, the popular streamer released Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story – which featured Evan Peters as the titular character.

Set between 1978 and 1991, the ten-episode project follows the violent and disturbing crimes of one of the most infamous serial killers in the world.

While the series earned massive viewership numbers for the streamer, Monster faced backlash from some of the victim’s family members, who accused the project of exploiting their trauma.

In a September interview with Insider, Rita Isbell – who was the sister of one of Dahmer’s victims – said she had no idea the show was being made.

“I was never contacted about the show. I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it,” she told the news outlet.

However despite the pushback and mixed reviews, Netflix announced on 7 November that the show would be back for two additional seasons.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new seasons will take on an anthology-type format and follow “stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society.”

In addition to Monster’s renewal, Murphy’s series The Watcher was also greenlit for a second season.

As of this writing, it is still being determined if the Naomi Watts-led thriller will pick up after the events of season one or follow a new story.

Shortly after the news made headlines, Netflix’s Head of Global TV, Bela Bajaria, opened up about the renewal in a statement.

“Audiences can’t take their eyes off Monster and The Watcher. The creative team of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan on Monster, along with Eric Newman on The Watcher, are masterful storytellers who captivated audiences all over the world,” she said.

“The back-to-back force of these two series is due to Ryan’s distinct original voice, which created cultural sensations, and we are thrilled to continue telling stories in the Monster and Watcher universes.”

The renewal news comes a few days after Murphy addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding Monster’s Dahmer-focused first season.

“It’s something that we researched for a very long time. And we – over the course of the three, three and a half years when we were really writing it, working on it – we reached out to 20, around 20, of the victims’ families and friends trying to get input, trying to talk to people,” he said at a panel in Los Angeles. (per The Hollywood Reporter).

“And not a single person responded to us in that process. So we relied very, very heavily on our incredible group of researchers who… I don’t even know how they found a lot of this stuff.”

Towards the end of his statement, Murphy said that the series’ goal wasn’t meant to highlight Dahmer but shed light on white privilege and homophobia.