Despite the cancellation of Heels in 2023, many fans long for more seasons of the Stephen Amell-led series.
Heels, which aired on Starz from 2021 to 2023, was Stephen Amell’s first major post-Arrowverse role. He took on the part of professional wrestler Jack Spade, who found himself at odds with his younger brother and fellow wrestler, Ace.
Stephen Amell Wants More Heels
Speaking with Busted Open Podcast, the onetime Green Arrow, Stephen Amell discussed his hopes and dreams for a continuation of his Starz wrestling drama Heels.
The series is a recent arrival to Netflix, having been added on Sunday, September 15 meaning there are a ton of new eyes taking in the series' first two seasons. That said, Heels has yet to crack the streamer’s Top 10 ranking.
During his interview, Amell noted that if there were to be a groundswell of support for a Heels Season 3, he believes that it should take the form of Netflix Original:
"If there is a hashtag that gets us, we want it to be #HeelsSeason3. And look, okay, no one took my advice by the way. It says Season 1 and Season 2 right there on Netflix. So the logical step forward would be changing it from a Starz original to a Netflix original or Netflix series…"
Now, it is important to note that there has been no official word from either Netflix or Starz on another season of Heels. But Stephen Amell seems nothing if not tenacious and will likely continue to campaign for a revival.
Shortly after Heels’ 2023 cancellation, showrunner Mike O’Malley confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the show was being shopped around to streamers and other networks:
O’Malley emphatically stated that Season 3 was not intended to be Heels’ last and that its ongoing storylines were set up to further progress:
"We did not intend, nor do we intend, for this to be the last episode of the show. One of the things that we're trying to do in this show is honor wrestlers, honor anybody who has a dream and the endurance to pursue that dream. Sometimes that endurance can be misguided."
He continued, explaining the argument at the core of the series, "How does our humanity get in the way of our own happiness." He also went into detail on the motivations of the main characters of the series, including Amell’s Jack Spade:
"What the show is really about is, how does our humanity get in the way of our own happiness? What happens at the end of that episode is Jack, who has been treated a certain way by his father, sees Ace being praised by the Continuum executive, Jen Lussier [played by Emmy Raver-Lampman]. She's rooting for Ace, and here's Jack, still that boy who wanted to be loved by his dad. He lets his own ego [take over]. He executes the leap. That moment is just him pushing it one step too far because his brother is being celebrated instead of him. And that's the tragedy of it."
Could Heels Actually Get Picked Up by Netflix?
So, with Heels now firmly in Netflix’s library, could the program be rescued by the platform for a third season (and beyond)? Sadly for devotees, this remains to be seen and nothing has been announced.
Any hopes of a follow-up likely rest on Heels’ ability to garner attention on Netflix, and the fact that it didn’t make it into the Top Ten during its first streaming week doesn’t seem like a good sign.
Netflix also does not pick up cancelled series as often as some like to think. Sure, there are cases like Arrested Development and Designated Survivor. Just this year, Netflix has seen calls from fans for other series like Showtime's Your Honor to get picked up.
But Netflix electing to order more episodes of shows that were axed seems like it’s becoming less and less of an occurrence.
Still, stranger things have happened in the world of television. Plus, Stephen Amell appears genuinely passionate about Heels and its survival, so perhaps he has enough sway to set the gears in motion.
Heels is now streaming on Netflix.
