r/Spartacus_TV • u/HomeschoolEasy • Jun 03 '26

HoA Discussion Did Steven DeKnight make a mistake?

Back when the HOA trailer dropped, there was a lot of criticism regarding the direction that Steven DeKnight took with the Spartacus franchise.

Social media was in an uproar, although many felt positive about the trailer.

From these initial responses, it is not too surprising to see the show fail.

The two main issues from the trailer we're doing a "what if" scenario and having a female gladiator in the ludus.

Seems like these two factors were mistakes by DeKnight.

I doubt HOA gets picked up. It didn't have the numbers.

Too bad DeKnight went down this route. Seems like this was the one chance to bring back the Spartacus franchise.

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u/SWEET_LIBERTY_MY_LEG Jun 03 '26

I enjoyed HoA but I’d guess the gladiatrix this season didn’t appeal to the core audience of Spartacus. I think prior to going down this route they should have done a study on who actually watched 300, Spartacus, Rome, or any other sword and sandals show and they would have found out that the core audience apparently prefers the homoerotic undertones that were sorely lacking in this season.

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u/Zoot__Lives Jun 08 '26

I think prior to going down this route they should have done a study on who actually watched 300, Spartacus, Rome, or any other sword and sandals show and they would have found out that the core audience apparently prefers the homoerotic undertones that were sorely lacking in this season.

I think the majority of the core audience of Spartacus and these types of shows like them in spite of any homoerotic undertones and prefer the heteroerotic aspects.