AMC has officially given the greenlight forThe TerrorSeason 2, but it’ll be wildly different from the inaugural season of the horror series. Some may be unaware, butThe Terrorwas actually envisionedas an anthology, and so the second season will feature a new setting, new story, and new showrunners. The first season revolved around the true story of the Royal Navy’s polar explorer ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, both of which went searching for the Northwest Passage and were never seen again. As envisioned onThe Terror, the ships became stuck in ice, and their crews were terrorized by a monstrous creature—as well as their own minds.
David Kajganichspearheaded the excellent first season, but he won’t be back for Season 2. Instead,Varietyreports thatAlexander Woo(True Blood) andMax Borenstein(Kong: Skull Island,Godzilla) will be executive producingThe TerrorSeason 2, with Woo serving as showrunner. As for the story, well it’s certainly timely:
The second season of the show will tell the story of a specter that haunts the Japanese-American community during World War II in the homes of Southern California, the internment camps where many were held during the war, and in the Pacific theater.
The idea of the AMC series is to begin with an actual historical event and overlay it with a fictional horror element, although the Japanese-American internment camps themselves were horrifying enough. This premise also affords AMC the opportunity to craft a series with a largely Asian cast.
Woo first came to prominence as a writer and executive producer on HBO’sTrue Blood, and recently served as a consulting producer on WGN America’sManhattan. He also wrote the screenplay for the HBO Films adaptationThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Borenstein, meanwhile, has been a mainstay at Warner Bros. as they’ve worked to expand their monster universe, and he also served as the creator of the short-livedMinority ReportTV series. Most recently he was tapped to develop aGame of Thronesspinoff for HBO, but it’s unclear if that’s moving forward.
I really do love this anthology idea forThe Terror, especially bringing in new showrunners each season. It provides a launching pad for some great limited series ideas, and I can’t wait to see what becomes of this second season.
No word on whenThe TerrorSeason 2 might arrive, but Collider’s own Dave Trumbore dreamed upa number of possible story scenarios for future seasons, so here’s hoping the series continues for years to come.
