What We Do In Shadows Show Co-Creator Won’t Write Season 3

Screenwriter-turned-series-creator Jermaine Clement announced he would not return as a writer on the upcoming season of What We Do In the Shadows. Clement co-wrote the 2014 New Zealand film of the same name with Taika Waititi (of Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit fame, no less). In 2018, Clement signed on as creator to help adapt the story into a U.S. comedy-horror series on FX.

The show is filmed in mockumentary style, chronicling the mundane absurdity of four vampire roommates living together in New York City. It stars actors Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, and Mark Proksch (not to mention some of its legendary guest stars). The show quickly became a critical and commercial success—and only seems to be improving by the season. Season 1 scored a 94 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which has since been eclipsed by season 2’s 100 percent fresh rating. FX aired the season 2 finale last night and—with viewership this season up 25 percent from season 1—it comes as no surprise that the network has already renewed it for season 3. Sadly, it looks like the forthcoming season will be missing a crucial link.

Clement, who stuck around as a writer on the TV adaptation’s first two seasons, just revealed he’d be bowing out of the writers’ room for season 3. In an interview with EW, Clement said that it was up to the remaining writers to hammer out the details of the new season since he “won’t be in the writers’ room.” He did not provide any specific reasons for his exit, although we can safely assume that he’s hard at work as a recent casting addition to James Cameron’s Avatar sequels.

As for his beloved role of Vladislav, which he originated in the film and has reprised on a few glorious occasions in the show’s run thus far, Clement cautioned fans not to get too comfortable with the idea of him guest starring in future episodes. He had initially returned as Vladislav during season 1 alongside Waititi’s and Jonathan Brugh’s reprisals of Viago and Deacon, respectively. However, his most recent cameo in the season 2 finale was solo and, reportedly, just a happy accident. “You can’t expect that! I wasn’t even going to do this until the day before, because we had trouble getting anyone in time,” he explained. “I happened to be in Toronto, where we shoot the show, so I put my wig on again, but it wasn’t planned.”

As a name that has remained attached to this franchise through multiple adaptations, Clement is an audience-favorite whose creative voice and signature humor will be sorely missed. Even so, as What We Do In the Shadows only grows funnier and sharper with age, fans will still have a lot to look forward to in season 3.

Source: EW

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