The upcoming fifth season of Lucifer has been billed as its final, but the potential for a sixth has been gaining traction, and the show being picked up for one is looking increasingly likely.
The series started strong, with many people praising Tom Ellis’ darkly charismatic portrayal of the eponymous protagonist, eventually leading to him being fitted into the Arrowverse multiverse (the character is a DC property, having debuted in the pages of Sandman) with a magnificent cameo in the epic crossover “Crisis On Infinite Earths.”
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Television began negotiations with Netflix to extend the show’s life beyond what was expected to be its end point. The discussions appear to be going very well, too, as TVLine had this to report on the matter:
“Negotiations between Warner Bros. Television and Netflix continue and both sides appear optimistic that a renewal deal will come to fruition. Length-wise, I’m hearing the bonus season would likely consist of between 10 and 13 episodes.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that the King of Hell has been granted an extension. The series was first cancelled by Fox at the end of its third season due to a declining viewership, right at the moment that Chloe finally discovered Lucifer’s secret (or rather, realized that he’d been telling her the truth the whole time about who he was). Leaving it at such a moment was intended to deter cancellation, which after a cursory glance over the litany of shows Fox has abandoned in such a state seemed a somewhat short-sighted move.
Disappointed, the loyal and vocal of the show’s fanbase managed to get #SaveLucifer as Twitter’s top trending topic, and an online petition racked up over 300,000 signatures. Fortunately, Netflix stepped in a month later to pick up the series for an additional two seasons and continue the story.
The fifth season of Lucifer will debut on Netflix in May, with the first of two batches of eight episodes presumably starting where season 4 ended, with the titular character having reluctantly reclaimed the throne of Hell. When negotiations began, the finale had just been plotted, so there may have been time to retool its ending for a continuation, but with episode titles like “Nothing Lasts Forever” and “Is This Really How it’s Going to End?”, audiences are being teased both ways.