Just a few short weeks before The Umbrella Academy returns for its fourth and final season on Netflix, showrunner Steve Blackman has been accused of toxic, manipulative behavior. Rolling Stone broke the story late last month, and days later, the author revealed that Netflix would no longer be moving forward with Blackman’s Horizon and Orbital shows as a result.
According to multiple sources close to the show, Blackman retaliated against staffers, created a chaotic workplace, often failed to give proper credit, made sexist, homophobic, and transphobic comments, and made inappropriate remarks about employees.
Despite rumblings about Steve Blackman’s behavior while The Umbrella Academy season 2 was in the works, he signed an eight-figure, multi-year overall deal with Netflix in 2019. In 2022, he launched Irish Cowboy Productions under his deal with Netflix and announced that he would develop two new series — one based on the Horizon Zero Dawn video game franchise and an original thriller event series called Orbital, set on the International Space Station.
Rolling Stone has heard that neither series is moving forward. Meanwhile, a representative for Blackman claims that the showrunner “has a long, ongoing, and close working relationship with Netflix” and “continues to work on new projects.”
Netflix has yet to comment on the story, so there hasn’t been an official announcement one way or the other in regards to the future of Horizon and Orbital.
Prior to Rolling Stone’s report, the live-action adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn was one of our most anticipated shows based on video games. The series has a rich story full of fun world-building, exciting twists and turns, and intriguing characters. If Blackman is no longer involved, we hope someone else gets the chance to adapt the game.
