Starz Cancels Beloved Show's Sequel After Just One Season

Starz was once one of the major players in the streaming game, but has faded into the background while streaming giants like Netflix pour out over 700 new original titles every year.

Starz owns a much more streamlined content approach, focusing on fewer shows. The approach produced one of the most beloved shows in TV, Outlander, which just wrapped up its eighth and final season this month.

However, the approach doesn't always work out in the end.

Starz Cancels 'Spartacus: House of Ashur'

On Friday afternoon Deadline revealed Starz opted to cancel gladiator drama Spartacus: House of Ashur after just one season. The sequel to Spartacus: Vengeance received a strong 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and was beloved by fans, but the streaming platform opted to move on in the end.

Lionsgate, which produced the show, is reportedly shopping a potential second season.

What Is 'Spartacus: House of Ashur'?

The new series asked what would happen if Ashur, who died in Spartacus: Vengeance, had lived, and the Romans rewarded his treachery with the gladiator school where he once bled?

"Set in an alternate timeline, Ashur returned in the new series," the synopsis from Deadline reads. "No longer a slave, Ashur has clawed his way to power, owning the same ludus that once owned him. But ruling a band of merciless gladiators is child's play compared to surviving the savage world of Roman politics - a cutthroat game in which betrayal isn't a sin, it's currency."

"He flips tradition on its head by unleashing Achillia, a fierce and powerful gladiatrix eager to prove herself worthy in a man's world. Together, they ignite a new kind of spectacle that shocks, disrupts, and offends the elite with every drop of blood."

Related: Netflix Cancels 10 Shows, 5 Others Ending in 2026

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 2:30 AM.