We Need ‘Fallout’ Season 2 and We Need It Now

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The following story contains spoilers for Prime Video's Fallout Season 1.

IN THE MODERN age of television, some shows can be dramatic and prestige-y (think Emmy contenders); others can be campy, fun, and gory (think genre fare). Rarely, if ever, does a show capture all of the above—and so that's where Prime Video's Fallout comes in.

Based on the video game franchise of the same name, Fallout is set just around 200 years after a nuclear war devastated the earth; the wealthy were able to settle safely in underground vaults for generations, while the rest had to fight for survival on a surface that became known as "The Wasteland." The show explores this reality through three central characters: a vault dweller named Lucy (Ella Purnell) who rises to the surface in search of her missing father (Kyle MacLachlan), a wannabe hero named Maximus in the cult-like "Brotherhood of Steel" militia (Aaron Moen), and a former movie star cowboy named Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins), who, through flashbacks, we learn is more intertwined with the start of the war than anyone could have expected (and is now a jaded, corrupted, noseless killing machine on a mission called The Ghoul).

By telling the story of this unique, radiation-ravaged present (which also includes a fun mystery storyline for Lucy's brother, Norm, played by Hannah Montana's Moises Arias), in addition to flashback scenes led by the optimistic Howard uncovering something more sinister in his social circles, Fallout gets the chance to be a show that hits all the important dramatic beats and has room for some really great acting, but also is never afraid to be silly, campy, and—oh yes—very, very gory.

By the end of Fallout's first season, we've gotten our fill of... well, just about all of this. Lucy has come full circle from her underground naiveté, Maximus has, one way or another, become a knight himself, and Cooper turned out to be the hero (or, OK, maybe anti-hero) all along. And one thing's certain from all of this: we need more. We need more Fallout as soon as possible.

Luckily, Season 2—and a continuation of this ambitious and engaging story—is on the way. Here's everything we know about another Season of Prime Video's Fallout.

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Will there be a Fallout Season 2?

Season 2 of Fallout is officially coming. On Thursday April 18—barely a week after Season 1 launched—it was announced on social media that Season 2 was officially going to happen.

The signs for the renewal had already been there: ahead of the show's April 10 release on the platform, it was reported that the show was receiving a $25 million tax credit to film its second season in California (the first season was shot in New York, Utah, New Jersey, and Namibia). After that (but before the official renewal announcement), the show debuted to big audiences and rave reviews.

There's already been talk of Season 2 elsewhere. Jonathan Nolan, an executive producer on the series who also directed the first three episodes of Season 1, told TechRadar that there have been "some really cool conversations" about a potential Season 2, but for now the team's main focus remains on Season 1. "If there are enough people out there who love it, and we're lucky to get the chance to go again, then we'll be playing in the same space, but not necessarily with the same elements," he said.

In an interview with Men's Health, Goggins also hinted that there's much more Fallout story to be told. "We’ve just scratched the surface, to be quite honest with you," he said. "According to the writers, they thought they would be much further along in the story by the end of Season 1. But it was just too much to unpack."

We now know for sure that Fallout Season 2 is in the works. Next up? Some key details about what, exactly, is going to happen within that season.

When will Fallout Season 2 come out?

No release date for Fallout Season 2 has been officially announced. But we can do a little sleuthing and get an estimate—Season 1 of Fallout began filming in July 2022, and the show was released in April 2024.

But in an interview with Collider, Nolan expressed frustration with that lengthy production time. "Part of it is just the ambition of these shows, right? From shows like Game of Thrones and then Westworld, onwards, that practical photography means it takes time," he said. "But I am as frustrated as anyone that it takes this long to get these shows on the air. So, we are poised and hopeful that we’re not gonna have to wait quite that long, should we be so lucky."

So, if the show is quickly renewed and begins filming by summer or fall of 2024, maybe they can cut that time in just about half—and Fallout Season 2 is ready to air by Fall 2025. Wishful thinking, but we're here to be optimistic.

What will Fallout Season 2 be about?

From the end of Fallout Season 1, we got a few major indicators of where things are going for Season 2. After a season of being, essentially, at each other's throats, Lucy and Cooper/The Ghoul are now fully on the same page; Lucy understands the cynicism and brutality of the outside world, and, after learning the truth about her dad and mercy killing her mom, is ready to embrace it. The two are ready to go on their own Last of Us style journey to find Hank and get some answers.

Maximus has also become an accidental knight and folk hero of his own; the Brotherhood of Steel now all think he killed Moldaver, even though she was actually one of the good ones and only died because she got hit by random bullet fire and bled out. Maximus is on Lucy's side, but the Brotherhood probably won't be all too supportive of that.

And, of course, there's the ongoing story of Vault 31/32/33. Norm has discovered the truth about Bud's Buds, and, after being trapped in the bizarre Vault 31, had no choice but to cryogenically freeze himself. There's a whole scheme going on with Betty Pearson (Leslie Uggams) taking borderline dictatorial control of Vault 33, and putting Stephanie Harper (Annabel O'Hagan) in control of Vault 32, but with Norm in cryo-sleep, who's going to figure it out? Our money is going on Chet (Dave Register), Lucy's cousin who has somehow gotten himself involved in a domestic... thing with Stephanie following the birth of her child, and Woody (Zach Cherry), the good-hearted vault dweller who got thwarted by Betty's corrupt "election" to Overseer.

Finally, we may have seen the last of Thaddeus (Johnny Pemberton), the squire who took medicine from a snake oil salesman and now is becoming a ghoul. But we hope not! He's a fun character, and following him at least a bit more would allow audiences to see how the Ghoul transformation tends to go.

Who will be in the cast?

The majority of Fallout's principal cast should be back for Season 2. We will certainly see Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Walton Goggins return as our three leads, while Moises Arias, Kyle MacLachlan, Leslie Uggams, Zach Cherry, and Xelia Mendes-Jones are all parts of ongoing storylines; it would be strange if they didn't return. Sarita Choudhury did great work in Season 1 as Lee Moldover—and we will likely continue to see her in Cooper Howard's flashback scenes, despite the fact that the character died in the present.

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