It's not uncommon for Netflix to cancel one of its original series that has a lot of promise and fun support, but the cancellation of Noah Centineo's spy comedy-thriller The Recruit earlier this year hit particularly hard. The series was canceled after only two seasons and left behind plenty of potential for a third season that's no longer on the table to happen on Netflix.
When the series was canceled in March 2025, creator Noah Hawley expressed his thoughts about the cancellation. He shared his hope that there could be a potential wrap-up movie to tie up any loose ends in Owen Hendricks' story. Well, Hawley just spoke with Deadline and dropped an update about The Recruit potentially returning for said movie, and it's not the update we hoped for.
Speaking with Deadline following the season 7 finale of his hit ABC show The Rookie, Hawley admitted that "it's still early days" in regards to getting anything related to The Recruit off the ground. Considering Netflix canceled the show, it's likely a hard sell to get the streamer to green light a continuation movie. We can dream, but here's Hawley's latest update:
"I don’t know. I think it’s still early days on The Recruit side to be talking about a movie or anything. I still am passionate about that world and the story, and would love to revisit at some point with them, but yeah, not at this moment."
The Recruit creator still 'passionate' about canceled Netflix show
Hawley still offered some hope for fans who are wanting to see Owen Hendricks and his team back on Netflix. He's still "passionate" about The Recruit and wants to return to the story sometime in the future. That's a positive sign! He could have said that he's moving on from the spy series and isn't interested in going back, so at least we can rest easy knowing he's keeping the wheels turning.
But that doesn't make it any less of a bummer to hear that there's nothing in the works, no positive developments to report, about a wrap-up movie. If Netflix has planning to develop one, we probably would have heard some sort of tease about it when The Recruit was canceled a few months ago. However, that's not the case. This will have to be a fan-demanded, creator-forward situation.
The Recruit lends itself to returning for a wrap-up movie, or even a series of one-off films. The second season proved that the series can tell tight stories, after having the episode count trimmed from eight episodes to six. Even tighter, and you get a movie! Like Netflix's Enola Holmes film series, Owen could tackle standalone cases in each movie.
A wrap-up movie for a Netflix original series isn't the most outlandish idea and even has some precedence. In April, the streamer announced that in lieu of a season 4 renewal, young adult romantic drama Heartstopper will return for a wrap-up movie. Obviously, it can't be the case for every canceled Netflix show, but The Recruit feels like it still has some unfinished business.
Watch The Recruit only on Netflix.