In the current streaming landscape, where any film or television series might be removed from a platform's catalog to avoid paying residuals to the people who made them, nothing is safe. Today, Metalocalypse suffered from this situation, as it has been officially removed from HBO Max, according to ComicBook. The series ran for four seasons when it originally aired, and it featured a television special that was released about a year after the main show reached its conclusion. The animated project won't be the only production to suffer this fate, as it is expected for more shows to be removed from the platform.
HBO Max, now going simply by Max, was the first streaming service to implement this new cost-cutting strategy by order of David Zaslav. Ever since the executive was introduced as the new head of Warner Bros., budgeting and profit have been the main priority for the studio, with the content they produced taking the backseat with apparent aloof disregard for it. Just last year, a Batgirl film was completely filmed and in the process of being edited when it was decided that it would never see the light of day. Leslie Grace starred as the titular hero, in a movie that is destined to remain shelved in a hard drive somewhere.
And the removal of films and television series doesn't stop at Max and Warner Bros., as another studio recently announced that it will also change its release strategy for what they produce. Disney+ is set to place some of its original television shows on the back burner, with titles such as Willow set to disappear from the streamer in the coming days. The Lucasfilm production only aired around six months ago, making the decision even more baffling. Most television series require an audience to develop over time. In a crowded market, it was already difficult to earn the audience's attention. And now, with the series simply disappearing, the situation will get worse before it gets better.
What Was Metalocalypse About?
The series follows Dethklok, a band bigger than anything else known to man. They were so influential and famous, they are depicted as the seventh-largest economy on the planet during the course of the show. The immense amount of power they possess allows them to have their own police force, and any product they decide to endorse is immediately sold out anywhere in the world. The careless lifestyle the band displays every day calls the attention of The Tribunal, a secret organization determined to stop them before they permanently damage humanity.
You can watch a clip from the series down below.