Yellowjackets is one of the best shows to stream on Showtime right now. The drama’s enticing mystery and the Yellowjackets cast makes it a must-watch. It’s addictive, fun, scary, and a bit crazy in the best way. We wanted a new season the moment Season 1 ended. However, we'll have to wait a little longer for Yellowjackets Season 2 to begin.
Because the hit gets some of its excitement from the major mysteries surrounding what happened in the wilderness all those years ago, the cast and crew have been tightlipped about the next season. Nevertheless, we know some quick things about the upcoming season.
Streaming now, you can read our guide on how to watch Yellowjackets Season 2, or keep scrolling for all the rumours that came out in anticipation below.
Warning: Yellowjackets Season 1 spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.
Yellowjackets Season 2 Started Filming In August 2022
The official Yellowjackets Twitter page confirmed that filming began on August 30, 2022. Prior to this confirmation, it was mentioned in a few press articles that filming was set to begin in August.
The tweet just says “Going feral. Our #Yellowjackets are back in production for Season 2” with a picture of a clapperboard and a bee emoji at the end of the sentence.
Yellowjackets Season 2 Premieres In March 2023
Prior to the start of filming, co-showrunner and co-creator Ashley Lyle told The Wrap that the plan was to have Yellowjackets Season 2 premiere sometime in "the first quarter of 2023.” Lyle then went on to explain that the second season has a similar production schedule as the first.
She also explained that the goal is to be done with filming by February 2023 and have the show premiere soon after that. According to IMDB, Yellowjackets Season 1 began filming episodes 2-10 in May 2021 and ended filming in October 2021. It’s also mentioned that Yellowjackets was one of the many shows that had to halt production due to COVID-related shutdowns.
Going by the Yellowjackets Season 1 schedule, it took about six months to film, and the show premiered on Showtime the month after filming ended. So it's not entirely surprising that the official premiere date should be set for March 2023. Showtime made the announcement in early December that the premiere episode of Yellowjackets Season 2 would be available streaming and On Demand for Showtime subscribers on Friday, March 24, with the episode making its on-air Showtime debut on Sunday, March 26, 2023.
Pencil in that debut on your TV premiere schedule for Yellowjackets Season 2.
Elijah Wood And Other Familiar Faces Join The Yellowjackets Season 2 Cast
In August 2022, Variety announced that Elijah Wood would have a season-long guest role as Walter on Yellowjackets. Walter is a Citizen Detective who is very dedicated to his job. He also apparently “will challenge” Misty (Christina Ricci). Reading between the lines, I believe that Walter will be someone trying to investigate the women, but may also become a love interest for Misty.
I am excited to see Elijah Wood act alongside this amazing cast of women in this intense, weird, and fun show. It seems perfect for him.
Yellowjackets also made some other important casting announcements before filming began. It announced the actors who will play the adult versions of Van and Lottie. Lauren Ambrose will play adult Van. We had many thoughts about who should play adult Lottie, but ultimately the Yellowjackets casting team hired Simone Kessell to play the role of adult Lottie. We saw at the end of Yellowjackets Season 1 that Lottie was definitely still alive and maybe the one causing trouble for the main characters.
Teen Van was also alive in the past, but it was unclear about her future. Now, we know that she at least makes it to adulthood. With the news that Simone Kessell and Lauren Ambrose were joining the Yellowjackets cast came word that their teen counterparts would have even bigger roles in the upcoming season. Courtney Eaton, who plays teen Lottie, and Liv Hewson, who plays teen Van, were both promoted to series regulars for Yellowjackets Season 2.
Yellowjackets Season 2 Focuses On What’s Next For Lottie
Many of our questions after the Yellowjackets Season 1 finale revolved around Lottie. Yellowjackets co-showrunners Bart Nickerson and Ashley Lyle confirmed that the second season deals a lot more with the Lottie of the past and present.
In an E! Online interview, the showrunners discussed how Lottie’s transformation as a teen will be a big storyline in Yellowjackets Season 2. They also shared that viewers can expect Lottie to be a major presence and threat in the upcoming season. Lyle said:
I would say a lot of, maybe barring Jeff [Shauna’s husband, played by Warren Kole] and his blackmail scheme, a lot of what we've seen from the women in Season 1 is sort of an interior threat, particularly with Shauna. And I think that moving forward in Season 2, we’ll see a little bit more exterior threat.
Lottie is going to show a lot more of why she’s a danger as a teen and an adult. This makes her probably the most fascinating character to watch in the upcoming season, because we don’t quite know how dark and dangerous she’ll become.
There Will Be “More Direct Reckoning With The Past”
A major theme of Yellowjackets Season 1 is the sins of the past still haunting them in the present. This theme will seemingly continue in Yellowjackets Season 2. In the same E! Online interview, Ashley Lyle said that the characters will face “a more direct reckoning with the past moving forward.” Bart Nickerson added that director Karyn Kusama pitched that the subtitle could be “Yellowjackets: An American War Story.”
This is likely due to how the things one carries and deals with after something so traumatic as going to war can continue to haunt that person long after the war has been lost or won.
In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Lyle also previewed how dark the show may become in Season 2 and how the dynamics may change when other survivors return:
We’ve talked about the fact that Season 2 for the wilderness storyline is very much their first winter. And all the challenges that you can imagine go along with that. I think we’ve called it the winter of their discontent. And then in the present day storyline, you know, they’ve dug themselves some holes, and that’s going to be an issue. I think we strongly imply that there may be a new person coming back. We may be seeing some new dynamics and there may be another survivor coming back into the mix.
The past demons, whether in human form, as mystical creatures, or just in a symbolic way, will definitely continue to haunt the main characters of Yellowjackets Season 2.
The Yellowjackets Season 1 Finale Might Not Be The Last Time We See Jackie
Jackie (Ella Purnell) died at the end of Yellowjackets Season 1, but her character may not be completely gone from the show. In the E! Online interview mentioned earlier, Ashley Lyle talks about how the weight of Jackie’s death will continue to haunt Shauna (Melanie Lynskey). In an Insider interview, Lyle states that she believes the death will be something that haunts all the survivors.
She also states that Jackie will continue to be a figure and symbol that “looms large for all of these women.” It’s also stated that it “isn’t necessarily the last we’ve seen of Jackie.”
This could mean that Jackie’s ghost could metaphorically haunt the women, especially Shauna, going forward, which means that Ella Purnell may still appear on Yellowjackets Season 2.
Yellowjackets Season 2 is already one of the most anticipated returning shows of 2023. We still have a lot to learn about the upcoming season, including if we’ll get 10 episodes like Season 1, which appears likely, because Lyle seemed to imply this in The Wrap interview. We can’t wait for Yellowjackets Season 2 and more WTF moments.
