Michaela Coel No Longer Developing Series With Links To ‘I May Destroy You’ Universe

EXCLUSIVE: Michaela Coel is no longer developing a series with links to her smash BBC/HBO hit I May Destroy You.

Three years ago, then-BBC drama director Piers Wenger revealed that Coel was working on a show that had links to the I May Destroy You universe. “It’s at relatively early stages, but I wanted to let the fans of I May Destroy You know that there is a new show coming along,” Wenger said at the time.

But speaking to Deadline last week, I May Destroy You EP Phil Clarke said Coel had toyed with various ideas for what was loosely termed “I May Destroy You 2,” before deciding against going further. Coel has previously ruled out a second series of I May Destroy You in the traditional sense.

“When Piers went public, we were all talking about it,” said Clarke. “Those were Michaela’s thoughts as well. But then we rightly decided there wasn’t much more to say. You can only conclude that once you’ve explored it a little bit.”

Clarke’s Various Artists Limited produced I May Destroy You with Coel’s Falkna for the BBC and HBO, after Coel famously turned down a Netflix offer due to the streamer being unwilling to allow her to retain the show’s IP.

Premiering just after the pandemic began in summer 2020, I May Destroy You was a generation-defining hit. Loosely based on Coel’s experience of being sexually assaulted and starring Coel and Paapa Essiedu, it followed a young writer in the public eye who seeks to rebuild her life after being raped. The genre-bending 12-parter won numerous awards, including two Emmys and two BAFTAs, and recently became the only show of this decade to be voted in the UK’s Broadcasting Press Guild’s top 50 programs of the past 50 years.

Since I May Destroy You, Coel has starred in the likes of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Amazon’s Mr & Mrs. Smith remake. She is leading David Lowery’s epic pop drama Mother Mary opposite Anne Hathaway.

I May Destroy You has been back in the conversation in recent weeks following the release of Netflix smash Baby Reindeer, which is based on creator Richard Gadd’s experience of being stalked and sexually assaulted.

Deadline has reached out to Coel’s reps for comment.