Yellowjackets Season 2: Release Date, Cast, and Everything We Know

Showtime’s Surprise Success yellow jackets East returns for a second seasonand fans of teenage angst, wilderness survival, cannibalism, or all of the above are understandably pumped.

The dual-timeline puzzle show follows a high school football team (the titular Yellowjackets) after a devastating plane crash in the Canadian wilderness. We see both the immediate aftermath of the mid-90s and the lingering trauma and intrigue that still follows survivors 25 years later. Something supernatural may be happening. There is definitely something sectarian going on. And, as I said, there is cannibalism.

The 10-episode Season 1 run garnered an unexpected cult following (not to mention a few Emmy nods), thanks to Reddit’s thriving fan theory cottage industry and shrewd casting of 90s icons Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis. He was so popular, in fact, that Showtime announces season 2 even before the end of the broadcast of the first season.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of The Yellowjackets.

Yellowjackets season 2 release date and how to watch

So how do you actually watch Yellowjackets? You’ll be able to stream the first episode of The Yellowjackets Season 2 on Friday, March 24, with a Showtime subscription (or by bundle Showtime with existing accounts as Amazon Prime Video And Hulu). New episodes will be available on demand every Friday. Cable subscribers can also catch new episodes every Sunday, with the Season 2 premiere airing on Showtime on Sunday, March 26 at 9 p.m. ET.

Production for season 2 began last August, according to the show’s official Twitter account, following a regular drop of news about new additions to the cast (more on that below). Then Showtime announced the premiere date of the second season with a trailer on December 7, 2022, along with this promise: “You won’t be hungry for much longer.” The news broke about a year later the series was originally picked up for season 2.

On January 13, we got another teaser for the upcoming season, which wrapped filming in mid-February. Several cast members commemorated the end of filming with a tribute on social media. Actress Tawny Cypress, who plays adult Taissa, posted a group photo on Instagram on February 11, with the caption “Later gators”. Simone Kessel (joining the cast in season 2 as adult Lottie) also posted on milestone with an Instagram photo, captioned “It’s a hallelujah wrap on season 2.” Samantha Hanratty (teenage Misty) shared a winter selfie for her last day on set, and Melanie Lynskey (adult Shauna) tweeted a “sapy” panegyric to his colleagues.

Yellowjackets cast: Who’s new in season 2 and returning from season 1?

Thanks to the relatively low body count in its first season, most of the main Yellowjackets cast will return for Season 2. In the current timeline, Melanie Lynskey returns as adult Shauna, Christina Ricci as adult Misty, Juliette Lewis as adult Natalie and Tawny Cypress as adult Taissa. Their teen counterparts will also return in the 90s timeline, with Sophie Nélisse reprising the role of teen Shauna, Samantha Hanratty as teen Misty, Sophie Thatcher as teen Natalie and Jasmin Savoy Brown as teen Taissa.

Two characters set to become even more prominent in Season 2 are Van and Lottie, both of whom have only been seen in the ’90s timeline so far. (Vanessa Palmer and Courtney Eaton will return as teenage Van and teenage Lottie, respectively.) It looks like both characters come out of the woods alive. Six Feet Under’s Lauren Ambrose will join the cast as an adult Van, much to the delight of Armchair Casting Directors everywhere, and Simone Kessell (of Disney Plus’ Obi Wan Kenobi) joined as an adult Lottie, our Queen Antler.

A few more new faces are joining the hive (nest? charred fuselage?) in Season 2: Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings) will play a “citizen detective” named Walter who becomes entangled with Misty in the current timeline. Nicole Maines will play Lisa, an associate of adult Lottie. Nuha Jex Isman is also joining the cast, as Crystal, an adult friend of Misty, and Francois Arnaud will play Coach Ben’s boyfriend, though it’s unclear in which timeline. Additionally, Lynskey’s real-life husband, Jason Ritter, will appear in at least one episode this season — no word yet on his character.

It’s safe to say that we won’t see adult Jackie or adult Laura Lee in later casting news – damn fan theories, they are indeed dead. In an interview with Deadline, showrunner Ashley Lyle confirmed it“I’ll say if in doubt, Jackie really did die in that scene,” Lyle said.

But that doesn’t mean we won’t see snippets of their teenage years in flashbacks or drug-fueled, cult-sanctioned hallucination sequences. Scrolling through IMDb only verifies that Ella Purnell (teenage Jackie) and Jane Widdop (teenage Laura Lee) won’t be making appearances in the Season 2 premiere, but subsequent episodes are anyone’s guess. Another clue from Lyle: “You’re not closed to the possibility of seeing Ella [Purnell] in the future.”

Will there be a Season 3 of the Yellowjackets?

While filming for the second season was still underway, Showtime announced that it had already Yellowjackets renewed for a third season. What do we know so far about season 3? Not a lot!

We know that the series originally launched with a five-season arc. Whether showrunners Lyle and Bart Nickerson stick with that, and whether network support continues, remains to be seen. But all signs currently point to a long and successful tenure for the Yellowjackets.

Intrigue of the yellow vests: what will season 2 be about?

Let’s round up some of the information we’ve already gotten on Season 2. First, winter is coming. The snowy season crashed into the Season 1 finale, and trailers and photos suggest it’s going to be an overall chilly setting this season. Actor Warren Kole, who plays Jeff, said “intense work in difficult conditions“, in an Instagram comment. Actor Steven Krueger (Coach Ben) corroborated, telling TV Insider, “This season will cover the winter months. It’s going to get dire with little food and the challenge of staying warm and alive.” And if that’s not enough evidence, in a interview with Varietyshowrunner Ashley Lyle joked, “We called Season 2 ‘The Winter of Their Displeasure’.”

We also know that the season 2 premiere is titled Friends, Romans, Countrymen (a nod to Marc Antony’s eulogy for Julius Caesar, as written by Shakespeare?), followed by the episode 2, Edible Complex (a nod to… eat your friends, Romans and compatriots?). It’s safe to say there’s more power struggles and more cannibalism to come.

We got a few more crumbs here and there, mostly vague teasing. “It gets gnarly and creepy and dark…and fucking twisted,” Elijah Wood said. “Now we’re really exploring female rage,” said executive producer Jonathan Lisco. And from Krueger again: “If you thought season 1 was crazy, just buckle up your seat belts for season 2. She doesn’t let go.”

Season 2 will also likely respond some of the burning questions raised in season 1, like who gets eaten and what happens to Shauna’s baby? (Please don’t let these two questions be linked in any way.) Is adult Taissa a secret member of Lottie’s cult, or is she just a very sadistic sleepwalker? Who kidnapped Natalie in the season 1 finale? What were adult Lottie and adult Van doing during the events of Season 1? Who killed Travis? Who else survived the forest – and who else didn’t? And for God’s sake, what’s wrong with that creepy stick figure symbol that’s popping up all over the place?

We hope to get answers – and probably a ton more questions – when Yellowjackets returns to Showtime for season 2.