It's official - Netflix's highly controversial series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, is being renewed for two more seasons.
The immensely popular miniseries focused on the life of the infamous serial killer and sex offender, Jeffrey Dahmer, who drugged, murdered, and subsequently dismembered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Despite being reported to police on numerous occasions, he was able to carry out his depraved killing sprees undetected.
Many people have speculated that this was because the majority of his victims were queer and either Black, Latinx, Native American, or Asian.
Since the series' release, it has faced a barrage of criticism, being deemed "insensitive" by many viewers. "If you enjoyed the [Jeffrey Dahmer] series, feel free to unfollow me. I can't stand true crime fanatics. The entire genre is a cash cow of insensitive depictions of trauma that affected real people. It isn't an aesthetic and these monsters don't need a new movie every 2 years," one viewer tweeted.
Despite the criticism, however, the show managed to break Netflix's record for most hours watched in its first week, with 196 million hours, as previously reported. Given this success, the streaming giant has renewed the series for two more seasons, focusing on "other monstrous figures who have impacted society," per NME.
"Following the record-breaking success of DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan will create two more instalments that will focus on other monstrous figures who have impacted society," Netflix tweeted on Monday (November 7).
True crime fans are already speculating that the next season may focus on either Ed Gein or John Wayne Gacy, who were briefly mentioned or portrayed in the Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
One fan took to Twitter, writing: "Do we think the same producers from 'Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story' will cover John Wayne Gacy next?"
"I'm guessing with the title 'Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story' this leads me to believe that we'll see Ed Gein and John Wayne Gacy 'Monster: Story' spin-off shows???" another user added.
Though, not all users were happy with the announcement. One person wrote that it was "despicable," tweeting: "This is despicable news. Exploiting victims stories because of 'record breaking success' when you could just lean into your really great fiction shows that hurt no one instead of canceling them. Winx, the society, first kill, wu assassins, space force, archive 81 the list goes on."
The show was originally pitched by its creators as highlighting the "as-yet untold stories of Dahmer's victims," and it's likely that the next two seasons will follow the same trend.
