In February 2020, Queen Sono, Netflix’s first African original series that the streaming giant fully commissioned and produced, premiered to audiences to both critical and commercial acclaim.

The series was led by former Quantico actress Pearl Thusi, Vuyo Dabula, Sechaba Morojele, Chi Mhende, Loyiso Madinga, Khathu Ramabulana, Enhle Maphumulo, Abigail Kubeka, Connie Chiume, Otto Nobela and James Ngcobo.

Under the tutelage of showrunner and director, Kagiso Lediga and executive producer Tamsin Andersson, Queen Sono launched in over 190 countries. In the show, Thusi portrays the titular character of Queen Sono, “a highly trained top spy in a South African agency whose purpose is to better the lives of African citizens. While taking on her most dangerous mission yet, she must also face changing relationships in her personal life.”

The first season of Queen Sono was extremely well-received, earning a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On April 28, 2020, Queen Sono was officially renewed for a second season by Netflix. Since then, many fans of Queen Sono have posed the question: when is the African spy thriller returning to Netflix screens.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production on Queen Sono has permanently shut down. Last November, S&A reported that Queen Sono’s second season renewal was reversed and the show was axed off of Netflix’s roster due to the coronavirus.

“We’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with season 2 of Queen Sono. We are incredibly proud of the Diprente team for sharing their audacious vision and bringing it to life with Netflix. A huge thank you to our fans across the world for the love shared for our first African Original series. Netflix is also grateful to the amazing efforts shown by the cast and crew for their stellar efforts in creating this show for our members around the world,” Netflix said in a. statement to Channel24.

Maybe one day, Queen Sono will see the light of day.