Yahoo News Yellowjackets season 2: Everything you need to know
Yellowjackets spoilers follow.
Yellowjackets crash-landed into our lives like a jet into a Canadian mountainside in 2022. Sure, there was some hype given all of the '90s acting royalty among the cast, but no one could have predicted quite how successful this show would turn out to be.
Like that freaky demon thing in the woods, Yellowjackets has taken hold of our very souls, and honestly, we're just grateful to serve. Short of slicing throats and eating people, we would do pretty much anything to finally get our hands on Yellowjackets season two.
Thankfully then, all our pagan sacrifices paid off, because Showtime renewed Yellowjackets halfway through season one.
Looks like Lottie isn't the only one who can see into the future...
Here's what we know about what season two holds for the show.
Yellowjackets season 2 release date: When will it air?
Yellowjackets fans were given an early Christmas present at the end of 2022 when a teaser trailer for season 2 was released – along with confirmation of the new season's release date.
Showtime teased: "You won't be hungry much longer," as it announced that season two will debut in the US on March 24.
In the UK, the new season is expected to debut on Paramount+ around the same date.
As if that wasn't enough, it's been confirmed a third season is in the works, too.
Filming for season two ran surprisingly long, only officially ending February 13.
Samantha Hanratty, who plays young Misty, was one of the first to confirm wrapping on Instagram, sharing a picture from the blistering cold of the Canada set.
“Last day on set of season 2! Extremely grateful to the incredible crew of @yellowjackets so much hard work went into this season and I can’t wait for you all to see it! Buzz buzz buzz baby,” she shared alongside a photo with a snowy background.
In the comments, Warren Kole, who plays Jeff Sadecki, replied saying, “Cast and crew have logged intense work in harsh conditions to put out this show. They have really been out in it. Props to them.”
Yellowjackets season 2 cast: Who will be in it?
Has a show ever been cast as well as Yellowjackets has? Not only do we have actual legends in our midst like Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci and Tawny Cypress, but the teenage versions of these characters are pitch-perfect too, resembling their older counterparts to an uncanny degree.
And following that finale, it looks like even the teens who died could potentially return as spirits in season two. Yes, even Ella Purnell's Jackie. Or at the very least, they could come back in more flashbacks. That's kind of a thing on this show. And because of that, you can't really rule out anyone from the season-one cast returning.
Speaking to Deadline, co-showrunner Ashley Lyle discussed this possibility in further detail, saying: "It's so funny to me watching how viewers and fans are reacting to the show and the strenuousness to which they will adhere to what they want to happen and the skepticism.
"I will say that in case there is any doubt, Jackie is very much dead in that scene. You're not closed off to the possibility of seeing Ella in the future."
But what about Adult Lottie? At the end of season one, we discover that the clairvoyant Antler Queen is alive and well in the present day. Fans expecting to see a new cast member join in the last moments of the finale might have been disappointed, but this definitely means someone new will play Courtney Eaton's character as an adult.
Some cast additions for season two have been announced, including Elijah Wood as newcomer Walter Tatersall, a Citizen Detective who will cross paths with Misty.
✔️Gnarly
✔️Scary
✔️Dark
✔️Fucking twisted.
Sign us up, @elijahwood. #Yellowjackets pic.twitter.com/jnjQYH8fIF— Yellowjackets (@yellowjackets96) February 9, 2023
Speaking about the show in a teaser interview from Showtime, he said taking on the role was an "easy yes".
"There's some really wonderful surprises and it gets gnarly and scary and dark... and f***ing twisted," he teased.
Wood's joined by Servant's Lauren Ambrose as adult Van, and Jason Ritter in an undisclosed role.
Supergirl's Nicole Maines will play Lisa, an associate of adult Lottie who is dealing with some past trauma. Arnaud will be Paul, a New York-based writer who is in a secret relationship with coach Ben Scott (Steven Krueger), the only adult survivor of the plane crash.
As well as this, Nia Sondaya (taking over the role of Akilah from Keeya King, who played the character in the first season).
Yellowjackets has confirmed the recast of one of its teen characters (via Variety), with Akilah being taken over by Bel-Air's Nia Sondaya from Keeya King (The Handmaid's Tale), who played her in season one.
Yellowjackets season 2 plot: What will happen?
Executive producer Jonathan Lisco has said there's one major running theme in the new series... unadulterated anger.
"Now we’re really exploring female rage," he told Empire.
"In the past, it’s about the falling away of social constructs, even more than last season. In the present, I think each of these women is being forced to reckon with who they really are, which they’ve been able to deny most of their adult lives."
So.... Is Taissa evil? Will Jackie return? Who kidnapped Natalie? And what did Lottie do exactly at the end? Yellowjackets raised a lot of new questions in the season-one finale, which means that season two has to hit the ground running upon its return. Just look out for those traps in the woods, mind you.
Thankfully, the writers aren't just stumbling blindly like some kids lost in the forest. Co-creators (and married couple) Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson already know where Yellowjackets is heading — and they have done since the beginning.
"We pitched it as a five-season idea," Nickerson explained in a chat with the Hollywood Reporter's TV's Top 5 podcast. So don't expect all the answers in season two.
Lyle teased what this will entail more in that same interview, saying:
"Lord of the Flies is about how socialisation falls away and how society is a façade. We thought, 'Who is more socialised than women?' As girls, you learn early on how to make people like you and what the social hierarchies are. It's a more interesting way of having things fall away. The mask is even thicker. It's a more layered amount of preconceived notions of how to behave and act."
However, in another interview with Collider, Lyle admitted that these plans could easily change within the next few years:
"We did pitch a five-season plan, but the best-laid plans always ... There's always a chance that the show gets canceled. In our ideal world, the story will tell us how long it wants to be. As long as we and our writers are really excited about it and feel like there's just depths to be mined, then we really hope to have the opportunity to keep telling it.
"As Bart said, one of the craziest parts about television writing, in particular, is that things do tend to expand and contract. I know that it's very typical for a writers' room to come together and break the first 10 episodes, and then you use all of that story by episode four. I think that it would be a bit hubristic for us to try to predict exactly how many seasons this will run.
"Generally speaking, it's sort of an instinctual thing, but you can feel when the story is coming down the home stretch when you're getting to the right points at the right time.
"[We] definitely intend to do this for multiple seasons. But could it be three or four? Sure. Could it be six or seven? Who knows? I mean, I'm not sure seven seasons and a movie is what we're going for here. But the important thing is that it unfolds in the most organic way possible and that we're still telling a really dynamic, interesting story."
Yellowjackets season 2 trailer: When can we see it?
A teaser trailer has been released by Showtime, and when a new, full-length trailer crashes onto the internet, we'll be the first to let you know.
Yellowjackets is available on Sky and NOW in the UK and Showtime in the US.
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