With a genre both as sprawling and as divisive as fantasy, it’s no wonder that some franchises are cut off way before their time, while others go on to languish long past when they should have ended. Some hit the sweet spot and create incredible adaptations that will define the genre for as long as there’s a genre to define, such as The Lord of the Rings (no, The Hobbit films don’t count), while others never hit the mark or didn’t get the attention they deserved.

In an industry that’s driven just as much, if not more, by the amount of money that films will be able to bring in than the creative drive behind the projects, it’s never quite a surprise when film franchises are killed before their time, despite being cult classics or stories beloved by a core group of fans—though it is always wildly disappointing. Here are five movies that deserved at least a third film, if not more, to tie up their stories.

5) Kick-Ass

Okay, this might be a stretch to consider urban fantasy. But where there are superheroes, there is a fantastical element. And Kick-Ass, while touting a semi-believable scientific reason for how Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) became a superhero, still counts as mostly fantasy in our book. The first film was critically acclaimed and wildly different from anything else that was coming out at the time. It seemed that Kick-Ass was poised to redefine the superhero genre as a whole with its wacky, hyperviolent indie style and dark comedy tone. And it was easy enough to see how creating a trilogy would be a wild success. But years between the first film’s release and the second, as well as a different director who brought an entirely different tone to the sequel than the one that made the first one an instant classic, ensured a poor box office showing and a terrible showing with critics and audiences, leading to the cancellation of what would have been the third and final installment.

When asked about her feelings on the franchise’s early demise, Chloe Grace Moretz, who played Hit-Girl, said, “I love the franchise, I think the first movie was really, really special. I wish the second one had been handled in a little bit of a different way. Because I think we were all kind of looking forward to something a little different than what happened with it all.”

4) Percy Jackson

There is no denying that the original films in the Percy Jackson franchise were an incredibly fun time, or that fans of the movies longed for at least a third to wrap up the story they’d fallen in love with. Logan Lerman was delightful as Percy, and his chemistry with his co-stars Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson was so heartfelt and relatable. But with the choices made by the studio to stray as far as they did from the source material, as well as to age up Percy and his friends, it’s little surprise that only two films were made, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. And while the new series, starring a much more age-appropriate Walker Scobell as Percy, is truly amazing (seriously, go watch it), there is still some lingering desire to know where the original films might have gone if given more time to get there.

3) The Chronicles of Narnia

The original novels on which the series was based spanned seven books, while the movie series only clocked in at 3. It’s not entirely surprising, given that the bottom line drives these decisions, and each subsequent movie brought in slightly less money than the one before. There was also a debate at the studio over remaining faithful to the books for the fourth installment—a heated one after Prince Caspian strayed so far from the original material. And with the fourth novel, The Silver Chair, being darker than previous Narnia tales, as well as featuring only Aslan from the original cast, it was always going to be a gamble to continue on with the films. All of this, alongside the tragic death of producer Perry Moore, sealed the deal on any more Narnia films from Walden Media. Now, however, Netflix has bought the rights to the story from the C.S Lewis estate, so there is hope for a continuation of the narrative, albeit with Greta Gerwig’s spin on the lore.

2) Clash of the Titans

2010 saw the remake of the 1981 film of the same name, bringing Clash of the Titans to the box office to surprising success. Loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus, the film boasted a stacked cast, including Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Neeson. And while critics weren’t crazy about it, fans went nuts for the gritty, CGI-heavy action flick, helping it to gross almost $500 million worldwide. Thanks to that success, the sequel, Wrath of the Titans, was a no-brainer and was released in theaters two years later. But this one was treated even more harshly than the first by critics, and fans also had a less charitable view of it, effectively leaving what was meant to be the third and final film, Revenge of the Titans, dead in the water, with the movie’s producer, Basil Iwanyk, saying that there were no longer plans to make it. It’s unfortunate because while falling prey to style over substance, the first two movies were fun and easily created a story that deserved to be finished.

1) Hellboy

Easily the most disappointing entry on this list is Hellboy, because if there was ever a series of fantasy films that deserved to continue, it was this one. And director Guillermo del Toro had absolutely anticipated continuing his comic-book adaptation in Hellboy 3, having left the ending of Hellboy II: The Golden Army primed for the anti-hero’s return to the big screen—something that fans of both the movies and comics eagerly awaited. But, as is usually the (disappointing) case, the lack of a third film came down to money, with the second film in the franchise not having made enough of it at the box office to justify concluding the series. In 2019, a reboot of sorts happened, with David Harbour replacing Ron Perlman and Neil Marshall replacing del Toro; the result was a failure of epic proportions. The lesson learned here? That the fans are still holding out for del Toro and Perlman to return to this universe, capping off the series the way it and they always deserved.

Which of these series do you think most deserved to continue on? Do you have a favorite from this list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. And don’t forget to join the conversation over at the ComicBook forum.