There's disappointing news for fans of sci-fi series "The 100" this week, as the prequel show that had been in development for two years has been shelved. "The 100" ran for seven seasons on The CW before coming to an end in 2020, and the final season featured a backdoor pilot for the planned spinoff.

TVLine reports that "The 100" prequel series, which was expected to be called "The 100: Second Dawn," will not be moving forward at The CW. The news isn't entirely a surprise, as things already seemed to have ground to a halt this time last year. Speaking to TVLine in October 2020, "The 100" showrunner Jason Rothenberg said:

"The conversations are now happening at such a high level, they don't include me. I hope to get a call one of these days and get some good news about it. I'd love to be able to continue those adventures. I love those actors and I love the world of the show so much."

It's possible that production company Warner Bros. Television might try to shop the project around to other distributors. It wouldn't be the first time that a spinoff series has landed at a different place to the original show; Netflix's upcoming historical drama "Vikings: Valhalla" is a sequel to the History Channel/Amazon show "Vikings." However, there's no word yet on whether Warner Bros. plans to try and find a new home for "The 100: Second Dawn."

What The 100 Prequel Show Would Have Been About

"The 100" is set 97 years after a nuclear apocalypse decimated life on Earth, with only a tiny fraction of the human population escaping to survive in an orbiting space station called the Ark. When the Ark begins to fail, 100 juvenile detainees are sent to Earth as, effectively, canaries down the coal mine. If they manage to survive and report back, it means Earth is habitable and the others in the Ark can safely return; if they immediately die of radiation poisoning, at least the Ark has 100 fewer mouths to feed. It's a win-win!

"Anaconda," the backdoor pilot for the now-shelved prequel spinoff, was set in 2052, 97 years before the events of "The 100." It depicted the first nuclear apocalypse and its aftermath, and introduced Iola Evans as Calliope "Callie" Cadogan, the daughter of "The 100" villain Bill Cadogan. Callie would presumably have been the protagonist of "The 100: Second Dawn," and Rothenberg told TVLine that the plan was for characters in the spinoff to eventually meet the ancestors of characters from the main show:

"I have a plan to get back to space. One of the characters always dreamed of going to space and will need to in order to intentionally make Nightblood. As we know, Becca comes down to the ground on Unity Day, so there's a lot happening in space. Clarke's great, great, great grandparents are up there on the Ark. Same with Bellamy, Raven and all the characters. I have a plan to get us up there and meet the ancestors. If we're lucky enough to tell that story, we'll meet Great Great Grandpappy Blake."

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