Earlier in October, author Veronica Roth released The Sixth Faction, an alternate universe retelling of her original Divergent novel. The dystopian YA series was wrapped in 2013 but lived on through films headed up by Lionsgate—and famously remains uncompleted on the screen.
After 2016’s Allegiant was a box office disappointment, Lionsgate pulled the plug on the final adaptation Ascendant, and the stars opted not to come back for a TV conclusion. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Roth admitted the writing for Ascendant was on the wall when the cast “moved on, and we weren’t going to move back. They were trying to figure out how to make it work, but it obviously didn’t come to fruition.”
One question mark around Ascendant would’ve been its ending: in the book, main character Tris dies, a move that split the Divergent community. By Roth’s own admission, she doesn’t know what Lionsgate planned to do, though it’s a move she doesn’t regret making. To her, dunking on her old creative decisions would’ve “betrayed” her younger self, as Tris’ death is “a time capsule of where I was at the time, and I did the best work I could.” That end may be “so much more tragic” nowadays, even as it might’ve introduced grief to its young audience.
After Sixth Faction and February 2027’s The Last Testimony, Roth didn’t say whether she’d fully walk away from Divergent. At the very least, she thinks this AU duology may help bring back the YA dystopian genre, which has gradually re-emerged thanks to Hunger Games’ return on the page and screen. She’s fine whether that happens or it just leads to more people reading overall. Similarly, any Faction adaptation is something she’s open to but not focused on: “It’ll be really fun if something happens, and if it doesn’t, that’s alright.”
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.
