‘Legacies’: Julie Plec Reveals the Parkland Shooting Inspired Her to Create the Series
Legacies is the third series in The Vampire Diaries universe, and it revolves around Klaus Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall’s daughter, Hope. The Vampire Diaries fans love the spinoff and its characters, but, unfortunately, CW canceled the show after four seasons. And following the devastating news, Legacies creator Julie Plec shared her feelings about the cancellation.
CW canceled ‘Legacies’ following season 4
Per Deadline, CW announced that they canceled Legacies on May 12. The series was one of many axed by the network for the 2022-2023 TV season, including a few shows in the Arrowverse.
Many believe that the widespread cancellations are due to the alleged sale of CW by ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia. But there’s another layer of hurt with the Legacies news. With the cancellation of the supernatural series comes the end of The Vampire Diaries universe.
The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009 and was met with widespread success. Its popularity continued throughout its eight seasons, and in 2013, CW decided that the world hadn’t had enough of that world. The network ordered a spinoff called The Originals, centering around the Mikaelson family. The Originals was on the air for five seasons until its series finale in 2018. And directly following its end, Legacies, created by Julie Plec, entered the world.
Julie Plec writes a tribute to ‘Legacies’
Following the cancellation news, Julie Plec hopped on Twitter to share her feelings about Legacies ending after four seasons. And she revealed her inspiration behind the series.
“A toast thread to the fallen and the fans who have to say goodbye,” Plec wrote. “To my beloved Legacies — after the Parkland shootings, I decided I wanted to tell a story about the young heroes who would save us from ourselves. Good kids living on the fringe who ultimately were the heroes of the whole story.”
In 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz brought a gun to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He killed 17 students and facility members, and he injured 17 others. The shooting garnered widespread media attention, and a handful of the survivors started Never Again MSD, which advocates for gun control. Following this horrific tragedy, Julie Plec created Legacies.
In Plec’s Twitter thread, she also shared her gratitude to the cast, crew, and fans. She said, “To the cast and crews of all. Some who have been part of the family since Day 1 of TVD in 2009. To the marriages that happened along the way, the children who were born, the friendships we all made and to hopefully many, many more stories to come … And to the fans. Without whom none of this matters. It has been my honor to be a part of telling these stories for you.”
Julie Plec teases the ‘Legacies’ series finale
Julie Plec also had good news for Legacies fans in her Twitter thread. It sounds like the series finale will wrap up the spinoff nicely.
“Mark Pedowitz and his team at The CW had the class and grace to warn the shows that they might not survive, even if The CW wanted them,” the executive producer shared. “Because of that, the season finales of both shows were carefully crafted to also work as series finales.”
Plec added, “I can speak for Legacies in saying that Brett [Matthews] and I and the writing team poured all kinds of love into it. And there are a couple surprises for long-time [The Vampire Diaries universe] fans that may just blow your mind.”
Perhaps a few The Vampire Diaries cameos will make their way into the Legacies series finale, which airs June 16 at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
