Netflix Is Bringing Ryan Murphy's Monster Back For Two More Seasons
One of the most recent true crime dramas to be made available for viewers is Netflix's "Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story," which was created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. The series depicts the life and crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer, the real-life serial killer who murdered and dismembered 17 men and boys between 1979 and 1991. Dahmer is portrayed by Evan Peters, a frequent collaborator of Murphy's, most notably on multiple seasons of "American Horror Story".
Despite mixed reviews — the series currently holds a divided 62% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes — "Monster" instantly grabbed viewers' attention. The show skyrocketed to the top of Netflix's list of most-watched shows. The series then remained at the top spot for several consecutive weeks, even passing half a billion total hours viewed — in other words, over 701.37 million hours viewed (via Forbes). Thus, it became the second most-watched English-language show on the streamer.
"Monster" is also notable for its surrounding controversies; for example, family members of the victims have criticized the series for making them relive traumatic events. Further, viewers called out Netflix for giving the series an "LGBTQ" tag, declaring that Dahmer's actions are not the kind of representation they were looking for (Netflix then removed the tag, per Variety).
Despite the backlash and controversies, it has just been announced that Netflix has renewed "Monster" for two more seasons.
Monster will be made into an anthology series
Deadline has reported that Netflix has officially renewed "Monster" for two more seasons following its high viewing numbers (the outlet noted that the series will likely reach one billion hours viewed in the coming weeks).
In a statement, Netflix said, "[The subsequent seasons will] tell the stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society." As of now, no additional plot details have been revealed about the upcoming renewed seasons.
Murphy has become somewhat known for his anthology franchises, which, of course, began with "American Horror Story," which has told a different story each season since its first, "Murder House," in 2011. In 2016, Murphy co-created "American Crime Story" with its first season "The People v. O. J. Simpson" before following up with 2018's "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" and, most recently, 2021's "Impeachment." Further, in August 2021, FX ordered two more anthology series from Murphy, "American Love Story" and "American Sports Story" (via Variety).
Stay tuned for more information on upcoming seasons of "Monster" as details become available.