Netflix’s ‘Monster’ Unveils Ambitious 10-Season Plan for True Crime Anthology

Laura Bais
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True crime anthologies have emerged as a staple in streaming, but few have maintained their presence in the cultural dialogue like Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s ongoing series. Each new installment has sparked its own wave of controversy, with viewership numbers robust enough to encourage Netflix to continue greenlighting additional seasons.

This momentum has now evolved into a more ambitious strategy than merely renewing season by season. Instead of treating each new killer’s story as an isolated gamble, the creative team seems to be constructing a more cohesive narrative framework behind the scenes.

‘Monster‘ may be here for the long haul, as creator Ian Brennan disclosed an impressive 10-season plan in a recent interview. “There’s a hopper of three things, but Ryan and I both said we want to do 10 of them,” Brennan shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a fairly exhaustive list, but it’s tricky.”

Brennan explained that the show does not focus on a single subject at a time, opting for a rotating development process instead. “We never do. We always switch. It’s always three or four different ones, and we toggle between,” he elaborated, illustrating a writers’ room that juggles multiple potential seasons at once rather than adhering to a strict order.

This method also means that many potential subjects may be discarded early in development. Brennan emphasized that the real challenge lies in finding compelling material, noting that many killers simply do not possess the depth required to engage audiences throughout an entire season.

This announcement comes on the heels of the premiere of ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story,’ which released all 8 episodes on Netflix on September 17. The season delves into the notorious 1892 Fall River murders, chronicling Lizzie Borden’s trial for allegedly murdering her father and stepmother with an axe before her eventual acquittal.

Ella Beatty stars as Lizzie, alongside Vicky Krieps as Bridget Sullivan, Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden, and Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden, with Sarah Paulson making a special appearance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos. The season reportedly adopts a feminist, darkly comedic perspective on the narrative, heavily emphasizing a romantic relationship between Lizzie and her maid as a key motivation behind the crimes.

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‘Monster’ has always been surrounded by controversy, and the Lizzie Borden installment is no different, having already faced criticism for its sensationalized promotional materials. This pattern has followed the anthology since its inception, with previous seasons covering figures like Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, and Ed Gein, each igniting public debate regarding the appropriateness of dramatization when portraying real victims and perpetrators.

Despite this ongoing friction, the series has consistently attracted significant viewership for Netflix, seemingly validating Murphy and Brennan’s choice to expand rather than conclude the format. A commitment to 10 seasons indicates that the creative team sees ample opportunity remaining in the true crime anthology genre, controversy included.

A commitment to 10 total seasons is a significant vote of confidence from both creators, especially given how challenging Brennan admits it can be to find subjects with sufficient narrative depth. With three or four potential seasons reportedly always in development at once, fans can likely anticipate the franchise’s rapid release pace to persist for the foreseeable future.

Whether audiences will maintain their interest in true crime dramatizations over a decade of new installments remains uncertain, but Netflix’s ongoing investment suggests the streamer is not yet concerned. For now, ‘Monster’ continues to show no signs of slowing down, with many more cases reportedly still in the development pipeline.

Part of what has allowed ‘Monster’ to sustain this kind of long-term expansion is the flexibility inherent in its anthology format, enabling each season to stand alone with a new cast and creative direction. This structure helps avoid the fatigue that can accompany serialized storytelling, giving Murphy and Brennan the freedom to experiment tonally from one installment to the next.

The Lizzie Borden season’s darkly comedic, feminist framing contrasts sharply with the more somber tones of earlier seasons, indicating that the creators are willing to take genuine creative risks in how each case is presented. If this willingness to reinvent the format season after season continues, it could be precisely what keeps a 10-season run from feeling repetitive.

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