Fox brought a new brand of horror to primetime last fall with the small screen reimagining of The Exorcist franchise. The show pitted three priests against a case of demonic possession that was plaguing the Rance family. While The Exorcist was never a huge hit in the ratings, Fox was encouraged enough to renew the series for a second season. As it happens, however, Season 2 will look quite different from Season 1 due to some massive changes in the main cast.
Geena Davis, Alan Ruck, Hannah Kasulka, and Brianne Howey will not return to The Exoricst as regulars when Season 2 debuts in the fall. The four actors played the Rance family, who spent Season 1 suffering due to demonic influence in their house. Given that Season 1 told their whole story from beginning to end, it's actually not that shocking that these four actors won't be back. TVLine does report that some or all of them could turn up as guest stars in Season 2, however, so the Rance family may not be gone for good. Since Brianne Howey just signed on to appear in Mark-Paul Gosselaar's vampire drama pilot on Fox, she might be the most likely member of the Rance family to turn up again.
Luckily, there will be three members of the cast to return, so Season 2 won't feel like a full-on reboot of The Exorcist. The three priests will be back, with Alfonso Herrera as Father Tomas Ortega, Ben Daniels as Father Marcus Keane, and Kurt Egyiawan as Father Bennett. We can't say if the dynamic between the three priests will be different after the events of the Season 1 finale, but we do know that they'll all be back.
The reveal that Season 2 will move on from some of the key elements of Season 1 tracks with what creator Jeremy Slater said way back when the show was still in the works. According to Slater, the problem with all the film sequels to the 1973 Exorcist was that "they were trying to duplicate the beats of the original film." The goal with the show was going to be to tell new stories with new characters that haven't been seen before. While there were clearly some homages and familiar elements from the original in Season 1, the show hasn't felt like a TV remake of the famous horror movie. Perhaps Season 2 with the big cast change will separate the show from the movie even more effectively.
The Exorcist will return to Fox on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. If streaming is more your style, our Netflix premiere schedule will help you out.
