Season 2 was renewed despite all that and made its subdued debut in July, right in the middle of summer blockbuster season, and one could argue Netflix’s side here, since superhero movies are starting to routinely cost upwards of $200 million, while providing a tenth of the run-time of Marco Polo’s 10-episode seasons.
But it’s all about the return for the investment, and Netflix has always been opaque about their original series’ wins and losses in that respect and others.
(I wasn’t that fond of it.)
Countering all of that praise for the aesthetic was the lack of compliments given to the story itself, which was pretty plodding throughout the historical tale of the legendary titular explorer and the Mongol leader Kublai Khan.