Helstrom: Canceled Before it Began

It started off with a whimper. Hulu's latest addition to Marvel TV received almost no fanfare when it dropped. The only reason I watched it is because of a single Instagram ad for the show... one that pinged a memory in my Marvel fangirl brain.

Hmmm... wasn't there a Hellstrom comic book? Could this be the same thing? It was a reasonable question, as the show's title card held no hint of Marvel branding. And the spelling had changed. But I gave it a shot and absolutely loved it. Yes, they had changed the spelling of the Helstrom's sibling's names. Likewise, they didn't mention that Ana's name in the comic book was... Satana. But the show worked. Fantastically.

So why then was it canceled before even one episode aired? In a word... Disney. 

Unlike Marvel movies, Marvel TV had been adult-oriented. Shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones focused on bloody violence and had themes like vengeance a…