Disney Is Passing Up the Fantasy Epic Poised to Run 8+ Seasons — and Define TV’s Next Big Era
As rivals scramble to fill the void left by Game of Thrones, Disney is sitting out a franchise-scale fantasy saga with eight-plus seasons of runway—the kind of untapped lane that could define TV’s next big genre.
Disney had a clean shot at planting its flag in TV's next big wave and just... let it drift by. Romantasy - fantasy with romance baked into the engine, not just sprinkled on top - has been exploding in books for years, but TV is still dragging its feet. Hulu actually had the perfect starter kit with A Court of Thorns and Roses. Then the delays hit, the momentum fizzled, and over a year after it was officially scrapped, it still feels like they walked away from a long-running, franchise- ready layup.
Romantasy is surging in books, lagging on screen
Ever since Game of Thrones wrapped in 2019, every streamer has tried to reload with fresh fantasy. The piece most of them keep whiffing on is the romance-forward side of the genre. Readers have been devouring it - think Fourth Wing levels of viral - but only a handful of those hits have even made it to development, let alone a premiere date.
- Fourth Wing has an adaptation in the works.
- Netflix is developing Quicksilver.
- Prime Video has Powerless on the way.
- Plenty of other projects have been stuck spinning their wheels for years.
- And one highly anticipated Hulu romantasy adaptation paused, then went sideways, and was axed over a year ago. More on that below.
Quick recap: what happened with Hulu's ACOTAR
Back in 2021, Hulu picked up the rights to Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses with plans for a series. If you were online at all during the early romantasy boom, you know these books were among the first massive crossover hits that helped define the trend. So, great choice. Then came the hurdles, then the delays, and eventually Variety reported Hulu was not moving forward. No one was shocked by the time the plug was pulled, but it was still a baffling miss given how big Maas' audience is.
To make it sting a little more, this was not Hulu's first swing at Maas. The streamer also grabbed rights to her first published fantasy series, Throne of Glass, back in 2016 (also per Variety). That never materialized either. Two big fanbases, two chances to build something long-term, zero shows.
Why ACOTAR is an 8-plus season play
If you want a series with legs, ACOTAR is right there. The main run currently sits at five installments, with three more ACOTAR books on the way. The next two are even pegged for October 27 and January 12. These books are chunky, too. On a streaming model - call it 8 to 10 episodes per season - there is easily enough material to keep a flagship show going for years.
There is also a bigger franchise map to follow. ACOTAR overlaps a bit with Throne of Glass and lines up more directly with Maas' Crescent City books. If ACOTAR hit, you could branch out into related corners of the world and build a whole ecosystem. That is exactly the kind of interconnected fantasy universe other platforms are chasing, and this one arrives with a built-in, very online audience.
The window Disney could have owned
Even if romantasy projects are moving slowly now, it feels inevitable the dam is going to break. There is too much demand. All it takes is one show to catch fire, and suddenly the category is a priority across town. Hulu's ACOTAR could have been that proof of concept - the one that set the tone and gave everyone else a model to copy. Instead, with the rights lapsed and the show dead, someone else is likely going to plant the flag first.
Where this leaves things
Disney and Hulu had the audience, the IP, and the runway for a long-haul fantasy series that also could have spun out a broader universe. They passed. If another streamer is smart, they will scoop up Maas' world and actually get it to air, because it has more expansion potential than most of the romantasy projects currently parked in development.
Short version: romantasy is coming to TV in a big way. Hulu just chose not to be the one to make it happen.