Created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee, Arcane has risen to become one of the most favourite animated action-adventure, bagging an Emmy at the 2022 Awards for Outstanding Animated Program ever since its debut in November 2021 on Netflix. For those unaware of the show, it is based on the world and characters of League of Legends, which is a very popular video game. The Netflix Original follows the life of the sisters, Vi and Jinx, between whom the “arcane technologies” and opposite viewpoints create an expanding rift.
The moment it dropped on Netflix, it became a viewers’ favourite, and the cutting-edge technologies, riveting plotlines, and gripping action sequences explain why. Since the first season ended on a cliffhanger, everyone is wondering what would happen after that. Will there be a season 2? Continue to read the article because we’ve gathered all the information regarding Arcane season 2.
What is the production status of Arcane Season 2?
The season renewal announcement of the show came briefly after the release of its first season, that is, on November 20th, 2021. Nicolo Laurent, the CEO of Riot Games, had previously announced on Twitter that although the first season took six years to make, season 2 might not take as long. Be that as it may, the second season, unfortunately, won’t be making a cut in 2023. Before announcing this bittersweet news, he also wrote on Twitter, “So yeah, we are working on #arcane season 2”.
So yeah, we are working on #arcane season 2.
The good news: you won’t have to wait for 6 years (the time it took us to making season 1)
The bad news: it’s not coming in 2022 😢 https://t.co/IQoPyLnw1J— nicolo (@niiicolo) November 21, 2021
However, according to Esports, Laurent later confirmed that the wait might extend than expected. In April 2023, Laurent unravelled that he had seen Arcane season 2 third episode and added that the team was “making progress on it.”
Production on season 2 reportedly began in November 2021, which initiated some season two voice work which took place during the lockdown, as mentioned by Kevin Alejandro (via Buzzfeed).
Alejandro said, “A little bit of season two started during the pandemic, which was really interesting and challenging. So [the crew] delivered an entire studio set-up, including soundproof walls, cameras, mics and directions on how to set it up. Then, I would Zoom from my closet to record our lines for our next season.”
In a conversation with Superpixel, Alex Lee mentions, “This was an idea that we had early on, in terms of a release schedule for it. We were designing the story with the idea of having triplets. You feel like you get a good chunk every three, and the end of every third episode usually has some big moments.”
“I think with shows that are more in the half-hour range, having just one every week doesn’t give you a lot to sink your teeth into. And then if we release it all at once, it’s surprising how fast you can watch it.
“Also, Riot really wanted to make this an event – they wanted to have that capability for fans to get together and to speculate and to have there be quests and missions that are in the games that you could unlock while you’re watching.”
Further, he adds, “This schedule gave us the best of both worlds. You don’t have to wait too long to get through everything, and every time we have a drop of episodes, hopefully, there’s enough content for you to feel like ‘we got to sit down together, and we got to have a whole viewing experience.”
When can we expect Arcane season 2 to release on Netflix?
Currently, the streaming giant has not disclosed any official release date for Arcane season 2. However, if we make an educated guess based on the production schedule of the same and the previous release schedule of Arcane, we don’t expect the brand new instalment to release before 2024. The reason why the wait for the second season is seemingly interminable is that the creators did not expect that they will be making a second season in the first place.
Laurent said, “Honestly, we didn’t know if season one was gonna be a success. If I had known, we could have started the season two ways earlier. But we didn’t know, so we kind of waited a bit. Now we’re paying the price. So, it’s unfortunately not going to be this year.” (via Digital Spy)
Additionally, co-creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee mentioned, “We’re beyond happy about the positive response to Arcane‘s first season and are working hard with the creative wizards at Riot and Fortiche to deliver our second instalment.”
Who are the cast members of Arcane Season 2?
The following cast members are confirmed to reprise their roles in Arcane season 2:
- Hailee Steinfeld as Vi
- Ella Purnell as Jinx (formerly known as Powder)
- Katie Leung as Caitlyn
In conversation with One Esports, Yee said, “In many cases, the people we chose to work with were not quite as big at the time as they ended up becoming.”
Apart from the above-mentioned cast, recently, a new teaser was released on Twitter by Arcane’s team, hinting at the potential new addition to the series.
Ready yourselves, friends. Season 2 of Arcane is now in production.
Where’s a Hexgate when you need one? pic.twitter.com/3aUeWuQ5Uu
— Arcane (@arcaneshow) November 21, 2021
What can we expect to happen in Arcane Season 2?
Arcane, as a lot of fans must be aware, belongs to the Riot Hames’ League of Legends universe, tracing the origin stories of habitants of Piltover, a utopian city and the repressed undercity Zaun. These habitants include sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell).
In the finale episode of the previous season, the fates of Jayce, Mel, Viktor, Cassandra, Hoskel, Bolbok, Shoola and Salo have been hanging on a loose thread. This leads to a plethora of unfilled gaps that can only be satiated in season 2.
With Silco’s death in season one, Zaun is stripped of a leader and a confirmation another potential one, since Jinx has broken all the shackles of control by pointing a rocket launcher at the Council building. Consequently, many might expect Vi to take over considering that she is the adopted daughter of Zaun’s late leader, Vander.
Jinx’s irrational actions could start a war between Piltover and Zaun. Season two will potentially cover that and also explore whether there are any survivors from that blast. Considering that Jinx has resorted to such aggressive behaviour, we don’t expect that she will be reunited with her sister Vi any time soon.
Vi’s proactive behaviour towards her sister and her empathetic need to repair the relationship have been burnt to ashes as she watches her sibling ruthlessly launching a rocket at a building that is full of people.
According to Reed Shannon (via CBR), “I would love to see Ekko and Mel interact. That would be crazy… There’s one thing about Arcane that I was very interested in, because of the poverty difference, because of the difference between the top city and the Undercity, race isn’t a thing that is discussed between the characters.
“So I would love to see how people that look the same interact. Is there that sort of thing, or is everybody just there? I would also love to see them interact just because Ekko is so smart, and she might be like, ‘Oh, you could be used… We could take you back to Noxus and you could build a big anything.’ That would be pretty interesting.”
Speaking to Superpixel, Linke mentioned, “We want to tell more stories. There are going to be more things we want to explore whether or not it’s going to be a TV show or movie. I think similar to Arcane, we didn’t say from the beginning that we want it to be a TV show or something. We just went with ‘Okay, we love these characters. Here’s a story that we’re going to tell.’
“And then over time, we found out we need the time of a TV show to go as deep as we want to – Vi and Jinx, Victor and Jayce, etc. But there could be a story at some point where it’s gonna be a movie format. I think we definitely have plans to tell a lot more stories when I really explore this. I think the answer is yes, there will be.”
Promising the fans even more explosive plot threads, Kevin Alejandro said to Buzzfeed, “You’re going to be on the edge of your seats. You’re going to be conflicted in such a way that I don’t know if it’s good or bad. Like, your emotions will be pulled out of you and you’ll be like ‘OH MY GOD!’
“That’s how you’re going to end. It’s so good! This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever been part of.”
For more release date updates on Arcane season 2, stay tuned to Web News Observer!