Despite being a critical smash for the streamer, one of Walton Goggins’ action series won’t be back on Prime Video.

Created by Sorry to Bother You‘s Boots Riley, I’m a Virgo centered on Cootie, a young Black man raised in Oakland and kept away from the world due to growing to extreme heights, standing at 13 feet tall. Tired of his sheltered life, Cootie ventures away from home, making new friends, while also garnering both the curiosity and the suspicion of the world, including billionaire-turned-vigilante Jay Whittle/The Hero.

Led by Emmy winner Jharrel Jerome as Cootie alongside Olivia Washington, Brett Gray, Kara Young, Allius Barnes and Goggins as The Hero, the series was a critical smash upon its June 2023 premiere, earning a near-perfect 96% “Certified Fresh” approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. With I’m A Virgo having also ended on a cliffhanger, there were some expectations of a season 2 to be ordered by Prime Video.

Now, in an interview with ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan for his new film I Love Boosters, Riley was asked about the chances of I’m A Virgo season 2. The creator/director began by expressing that the “second season happens in your imagination,” humorously opining that “we watch TV too much” and instead asking our interviewer for her thoughts on where the show would go from its cliffhanger.

Riley then went on to explain that part of the reason behind I’m A Virgo‘s cliffhanger ending was the show ran a bit short on its budget “two weeks before production,” needing $3 million to properly wrap up the proceedings. He and his creative team subsequently “ended up having to cut 40% of the script,” including a “whole penultimate episode” that would have brought “another 20 minutes” to the proceedings:

Boots Riley: And then there was stuff in the second [season], like he actually did do all this sports stuff and all this stuff. Then there were more Lower Bottoms folks. There was more of that.

Riley, who was paired with star LaKeith Stanfield in the interview, went on to share that the Oscar-nominated star, who previously worked with the filmmaker on his debut Sorry to Bother You, was originally going to appear as one of the Lower Bottoms characters. Joking that he thinks “I would have got them to give me the money” if Stanfield joined the cast, he shared that the star’s schedule with Disney’s Haunted Mansion prevented it from happening, to which Stanfield laughed as he apologized it being “my fault, guys.”

Riley then circled back to the material he had to cut from the series, recalling that Prime Video “kept being like, ‘We’ll just put it on the second season,‘” thus leaving the show “feel[ing] like it needs” more. However, when it came time to properly discuss what I’m A Virgo season 2 would look like, the creator found that it “doesn’t feel right to do a whole second season,” as his remaining ideas “only work[ed] in the context” of the cut material and “wasn’t as impactful” if they had chosen to start “with this thing that should have been at the end.”

After embarking on a surreal journey of self-discovery, and being both idolized and vilified by the public, I’m A Virgo season 1 left a few avenues open for Cootie. Having narrowly come on top in his fight with Goggins’ The Hero, the rash that Cootie had been dealing with half the season escalated to dangerous territory, as it seemed to show some kind of paranormal being growing under his skin.

Around the time of the show’s original airing, Jerome had indicated that the lack of an answer for Cootie’s rash was an intentional decision on Riley’s part, albeit didn’t indicate that there had been a significant portion of I’m A Virgo‘s script cut. However, executive producer Michael Ellenberg had seemingly hinted to ScreenRant that such changes had to be made, as he discussed helping shepherd Riley’s vision to the screen from a producorial standpoint:

Michael Ellenberg: Yeah, no, figuring out the scale of the show is immense. Part of the reason I was just so drawn to work with Boots is he’s a world builder, he’s a visionary, and the promise for a series was to create a world that audiences can enter for multiple hours, multiple episodes, then you can go down different curlicues, and you’re completely in it. So, yeah, for sure, it was a process, both writing it, the test of how to film it, there were things we could pull off, there were things we couldn’t, so maybe those ideas will come back later.

Though he may have once had more material planned for the series, I’m A Virgo remaining a miniseries may ultimately benefit the show as a whole in the long run. Riley’s feature directorial debut, Sorry to Bother You, similarly ended on a cliffhanger that left some viewers polarized about the fate of Stanfield’s Cassius, but ultimately fit the film’s theme of refusing to submit to a capitalist system.

The same could be said for I’m A Virgo‘s ending and the uncertainty surrounding Cootie’s rash and his ultimate fate. While there may never be an exact explanation for why his body is undergoing such a radical change, it does generally align with the idea that he’s slowly been swayed by capitalism. Between his continued donning of Asphalt Royalty’s clothing and consumption of Bing Bang Burger’s food, in spite of the realization they are both having negative impacts on himself and the world, his rash could just as likely be more metaphorical than literal.

And while I’m A Virgo season 2 may never happen, that hasn’t stopped the various creatives involved from putting out fresh new projects into the world. Riley has made his filmmaking return with another mix of surrealism and grounded storytelling in I Love Boosters, which left critics in awe following its SXSW premiere, while Goggins reteamed with Prime Video for the hit Fallout series adaptation, Brett Gray has found continued success in the supporting position with The Chi and Young went on to become the first Black actress to earn four consecutive Tony nominations for Best Featured Actress in a play and the first African-American actress to win two consecutive awards.

Release Date

2023 – 2023-00-00

Network

Prime Video

Showrunner

Boots Riley

Directors

Boots Riley

Writers

Whitney White, Boots Riley, Marcus Gardley, Michael R. Jackson, Tze Chun

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  Robert Longstreet

  Cult Leader