Yellowjackets is the hit survival drama that unfolds over two timelines: one in the past, when the high school soccer team’s plane crashed in the northern wilderness, forcing the stranded teenage girls to do anything to survive; and another in the present, picking up with four adults, who managed to make it out alive nearly 25 years earlier.
After an explosive debut, which earned seven Emmy nominations, Showtime renewed the series from creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson for another season. And as anticipation builds, here’s everything we know about season 2, including the first official look at newest cast members Elijah Wood and Lauren Ambrose, as well as the extended trailer, teasing what’s to come in the new episodes.
New and Returning Cast Members
Season 1 starred an ensemble cast, with Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse as the adult and teenage versions of Shauna, respectively; Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown as the adult and teenage versions of Taissa; Juliette Lewis and Sophie Thatcher as the adult and teenage versions of Natalie; as well as Christina Ricci and Samantha Hanratty as the adult and teenage versions of Misty.
Other initial survivors included assistant coach Ben Scott (Steven Krueger), the late coach’s two sons, Travis (Kevin Alves) and Javi (Luciano Leroux), as well as team members Jackie (Ella Purnell), Van (Liv Hewson), Lottie aka the Antler Queen (Courtney Eaton), Akliah (Keeya King), Laura (Jane Widdop) and Mari (Alexa Barajas).
While Laura died trying to take off in a small prop plane early on and Jackie froze to death during the season 1 finale, fan-favorite Van survived being mauled by a wolf. After her fate was revealed, Purnell told ET, “I keep trying to convince the writers. Like, I’m trying to come up with all these different reasons why they should write me in the next season,” joking fans should start a petition to bring her back as a ghost.
As of now, there’s no plans for Jackie’s return in season 2. But the show is adding adult versions of key characters, with Van to be played by Ambrose. She joins Obi-Wan Kenobi star Simone Kessell, who will take on Lottie, who was revealed to secretly be meddling with the other adult survivors at the end of the season.
And you thought Van was six feet under. 😏 #yellowjackets pic.twitter.com/MT8lZHIDmi
— Yellowjackets (@yellowjackets96) December 22, 2022
Welcome to the Bureau of Citizen Detectives, @elijahwood. #Yellowjackets pic.twitter.com/vnE2MRDTZy
— Yellowjackets (@yellowjackets96) January 10, 2023
More recently, while promoting Scream VI, Brown told ET that she’s “not prepared” for what will be revealed this season. “Like, whatever you are hoping is going to happen, it’s worse than that. It’s worse than that,” Brown said, revealing that she’s “seen episodes one and two, which are very satisfying.”
Not only that, “but it just gets worse and worse — worse as in better — and episode six is really disturbing and I’ve never seen anything like it before,” she continued, before proclaiming that “Sophie Nélisse will be nominated for an Emmy this season.”
Her comments came shortly before Showtime debuted an extended, new trailer set to a Florence + The Machine cover of No Doubt’s “Just a Girl.”
A “huge fan” of the series, Welch said, “The song especially had a huge impact on me growing up, so I was thrilled to be asked to interpret it in a ‘deeply unsettling’ way for the show. We tried to really add some horror elements to this iconic song to fit the tone of the show. And as someone who’s first musical love was pop punk and Gwen Stefani it was a dream job.”