Despite mostly positive reviews from critics and favorable social media tracking for Jensen Ackles' Countdown and Daniel Dae Kim's Butterfly, Amazon Prime Video has decided to cancel both shows after only one season. The news was confirmed by Deadline Hollywood.
In Countdown, Ackles (Supernatural, The Boys) starred as LAPD detective Mark Meachum, who gets recruited to a secret task force comprised of undercover agents from all branches of law enforcement who are assembled to investigate the murder of a Department of Homeland Security officer who is murdered in broad daylight. However, the hunt for the killer soon uncovers a plot far more sinister than anyone could have imagined, kicking off a race against time to save a city of millions. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on June 25, 2025.
Butterfly stars Dae Kim as David Jung, a mysterious former US intelligence operative living in hiding in South Korea who has his life blown to pieces when the consequences of an impossible decision from his past come back to haunt him, and he finds himself hunted by Rebecca- a deadly young assassin, and Caddis, the sinister spy organization she works for. Butterfly premiered on Prime Video on August 13, 2025.
According to reports, Butterfly was cancelled because the show did not meet Amazon's global performance expectations despite a strong debut in the United States. The streamer gave the same reasoning for the decision to cancel Countdown.
While Daniel Dae Kim has yet to comment on Amazon's decision, Jenson Ackles did post a message on Instagram, sharing his thoughts.
"As some of you may have seen already, Countdown did not get picked up for another season,” Ackles said in a video addressing his fans. “Amazon’s gonna let it go, and it’s a bummer because I had such an amazing time making that show. Had an absolute blast with the cast and the crew."
He went on to add, "Sometimes you can set out to do your best and check all those boxes, and ultimately it’s out of your hands. That’s the way it goes in this industry...That's the end for Mark Meachum...but I'm thankful for the experience.I really am but we'll see you down the road on something else.”
That something else is another Amazon Prime Video project, a prequel spinoff of The Boys titled Vought Rising, in which Ackles will reprise his scene-stealing role as Soldier Boy. Filming began in August and while it doesn't have an exact release date yet, fan speculation points to a late-2026 or early-2027 release window.