Ever since 2021, fans have been waiting for the next season of Arcane, and now, as part of the 2024 Netflix schedule, it's finally here! The season continues the story of Jinx, Vi, and everyone else within their twisted world, however, we're only getting this one last season with them. While this was a shock to fans, there's still plenty to look forward to, and I had the chance to ask showrunner and co-creator Christian Linke what he plans to do next in the world of Arcane.
Arcane is undoubtedly one of the best shows to binge-watch on Netflix, and now, with the release of Season 2, it's only going to shoot back up to the charts. However, the creators of Arcane made the tough decision to end the series after only two seasons for the sake of telling a complete story and trying not to stretch it out.
However, Linke even said on the series' X account that while this story is coming to an end, there are more characters to follow in the world of League of Legends. When I spoke with Linke ahead of Arcane Season 2's premiere, I asked what they might be doing next after the series comes to a close and if there were characters from Arcane they wanted to explore more. They said that is part of what they want to do. However, there were also "a bunch" of other characters in LoL they could explore and, truthfully, they just have to start from the ground up once more:
There definitely are some characters that we want to continue their story, after Arcane. That is part of what we want to do. But there's also a bunch of others. I mean, we have over 160 characters in our IP now. There's a bunch of them where we're super excited, different regions, different storylines, that we want to explore… it's just like starting Arcane again, to be honest with you. It's just like, we kind of started with nothing. You're like, "What should we do? Time to figure it out. Let's figure it out." We need to trust our gut. That's what we did with Arcane.
When Arcane was released back in 2021, the show became huge for so many reasons, including the well-written Jinx and Vi and their tragic tale of sisters and the other tales that we followed. It's almost hard to imagine falling for any other characters besides these when we've established this close relationship with them over the last three years.
Even so, Linke is correct in saying that the world of LoL is ridiculously huge. You could throw a dart at a board and get a new character every time with new lore that could serve as the background to a fresh show. So, even if we don't get to follow characters we know and love from Arcane in a new series, I definitely can see myself loving new characters too.
But don't expect this new series to happen anytime soon. I jokingly said to Linke that any new series would take another "decade" to come out, just like the first season of Arcane. And he honestly agreed, chuckling but saying that's just how animation is and that it takes time to make these shows a reality:
I know. That's just the thing about animation. You can't do it quickly. It's like, whatever you think of right now, you think, 'Is this going to take three to five years to make it?'
Animated shows have been known to release seasons much later because of how long they take to create. There are so many examples— from the long wait between Invincible Seasons 1 and 2, to the creative series Hazbin Hotel taking years to finally premiere on Amazon Prime, to even some of the best anime out there. Fans can sometimes wait years. Heck, between Seasons 1 and 2 of Attack on Titan, viewers had to wait five years. Good grief.
Either way, as someone who does love the world of Arcane but is totally open to whatever story Linke and his co-creator, Alex Yee, want to tell next, I am down to wait. I suppose in the meantime, I'll watch other shows like Arcane to hold me over.
Arcane Season 2 will release three-episode acts on November 9, 16, and 23. With a Netflix subscription, you can watch all episodes to see how Vi and Jinx's story truly ends.
