The controversial yet hugely popular Netflix series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story hit a huge milestone: one billion hours viewed in the span of just two months, according to Variety. It’s the third of Netflix’s titles to hit the billion hours mark, after Squid Game and Season 4 of Stranger Things, both of which made the breakthrough in under a month. Squid Game remains their most-watched title, with 1.65 billion hours viewed and counting.

With ten episodes of varying lengths between 45 minutes and 60 minutes, this means that roughly over 100 million subscribers watched the Netflix series, although this assumes that each viewer watched the series all the way through, and only watched it once. In just 12 days, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story had nearly 500 million hours viewed, and it was on Netflix’s top 10 list for three weeks.
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The series has since received some backlash for allegedly glorifying the actions of Jeffrey Dahmer and for profiting off the pain of his victims and their families. Defenders of the series claim that it does justice to the victims, and serves as a warning that even vicious serial killers can seem ‘normal’ and often lure their victims by appearing to be friendly.

Related: Niecy Nash Sees Dahmer Series Casting as a ‘Personal Gift’

‘Monster’ Has Been Renewed for Two More Seasons

Netflix

The series was planned on being a limited one, but because of its explosive popularity, it’s been renewed for two more seasons. Of course, Jeffrey Dahmer’s life has already been covered by the first season, so future seasons of Monster will cover other notorious serial killers. No details have been released yet, but it’s possible that the next season could be about John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of murdering 33 men and boys.

Actor Evan Peters received widespread acclaim for his portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer, a role for which he did extensive research. Peters has also played Quicksilver in the X-Men film series and has appeared in The Lazarus Effect, I Am Woman, and several seasons of American Horror Story.

This isn’t the first time Dahmer’s life has been dramatized: the 2017 film My Friend Dahmer adapted the killer’s life to screen as well, although it was more focused on his early life rather than his string of murders. This isn’t Netflix’s first foray into real-life serial killer biopics, either: in 2019, they released the movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, which covers Ted Bundy’s violent crimes. Zac Efron portrays the infamous killer.

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was released on Netflix on September 21st, 2022. Evan Peters portrays the notorious serial killer, with the supporting cast including Niecy Nash, Richard Jenkins, Molly Ringwald, and Michael Learned. The series was created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brenning.