Our Flag Means Death Cancelled by HBO Max

By Lillith Rengstorf

Our Flag Means Death (2022–2023) was one of the most popular streaming series in the last few years, and it is one of my personal favorites. The pirate rom-com is directed by David Jenkins, and stars Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi. However, despite the second season’s success on HBO’s streaming service Max, the company has somewhat unceremoniously canceled it.

I am a huge fan of Taika Waititi’s work and acting, and I absolutely loved watching the first season as it premiered with my mom, and then later binge-watching the second season when I was home from college on break. The queer representation has been applauded many times over, including on this very blog! (Go check it out, support my fellow contributors!) Despite the show’s sometimes emotionally turbulent storyline, it brought me immense joy to watch, and I was among those who were disappointed to hear that it was canceled. However, I was excited, and then later blown-away by the tenacity of the die hard fans of the show, and their petition to “Renew as a Crew”. Their petition, a play on the main character, Stede Bonnet’s, tagline of “We talk it through… as a crew!”, has reached thousands of fans, and raised enough money for a billboard in Times Square.

Another aspect of this joining of fans in solidarity with the cast and crew that was especially impactful for me, is other TV fandoms adding their support to the cause. Rather than get into so-called “fandom wars” or having a sense of superiority over season renewals, the Good Omens (2019-present) fandom has been one of the fiercest supporters of “Renew As A Crew”. Good Omens, the Amazon Prime adaptation of the book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet, has also been praised for its diverse representation, and its appeal to LGBTQ+ fans. It’s no wonder that there is significant overlap and shared support between these two fandoms.

The director of “Our Flag Means Death” has said that he would have liked three seasons to fully flesh out his story ideas, and was incredibly grateful to the outpouring of support from fans. As of this moment, when I’m writing this post, the petition to “Renew As A Crew” has 78,000 signatures on change.com, with over 1700 having signed today. It’s amazing to see so many people coming together to support a cause that, for once, isn’t a dire threat. The queer community deserves joyful stories like “Our Flag Means Death” and to be able to fight for that and have the level of success that we have seen is incredible. If you, like me, have seen Our Flag Means Death, and love it, and want more of the swashbuckling gay pirates and the rest of the crew of the Revenge, I urge you to sign the petition here, to make sure we can Renew… As A Crew!

About the Author

Lilith Rengstorf is from Northwest Indiana, and recently graduated from Valpo High School. She will be attending Butler University for Biology in the fall. Lilith uses she/they pronouns and has been publicly out as bisexual for around two years. In their free time Lilith enjoys reading, sewing, and knitting.