Make Way For the Underworld Crossover of the Century

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After a season of love, betrayal, and murder most foul, Interview With the Vampire has come to a bloody end. Or has it? AMC’s decadent adaptation of the seminal Anne Rice novel has made inroads with devoted readers and newbies alike, but luckily, the journey is only just beginning. Listen up, fellow creatures of the night, and read on for everything we know about Season Two of Interview With the Vampire.

Has AMC Renewed Interview With the Vampire For Season Two?

Yes. Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC studios, said in a statement, “The scope and breadth of this show, and what Mark [Johnson] and Rolin [Jones] have delivered, is just stupendous. They have rendered the rich and vibrant world of Anne Rice’s Interview in a wonderful way, and we’re incredibly proud. From the set build, to production design, costumes and more—no detail was overlooked. This stellar cast deliver powerful performances that emotionally connect us to these characters and their humanity. We look forward to sharing the final product of this extraordinary effort with audiences in just a few short days and are thrilled that this story will continue. This is only the beginning of an entire Universe featuring enthralling stories and characters that capture the spirit of Anne Rice’s amazing work.”

Showrunner Rolin Jones responded, "Bulgaria. Romania. Paris. (Ah Paris!) San Francisco. New Orleans. Dubai. The writing staff of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire is honored, humbled, and hungry to add more stamps to our vamps’ passport books. All praises be to our fearless network, we shall endeavor not to screw it up." Notice a few locations we haven’t visited yet, like Bulgaria, Romania, and Paris? We can expect to go there in Season Two—more on that below.

What Could Happen in Interview With the Vampire Season Two?

Season One ends partway through Rice’s novel, with Louis and Claudia bound for Paris after killing Lestat in a shocking betrayal. Jones confirmed to Variety that Season Two will complete the novel, saying, “Going forward, we are going to do things that are wildly loyal, and really try to squeeze out every beautiful piece of prose in that second half of the book—and we are going to do some other things the book didn’t do, mostly based on where the books go from here. Books two, three, and six really inform all the decisions we made in Season One, and a lot of the decisions we are making in Season Two.” We can guess that Louis and Claudia are headed for Paris, as in the novel, but Jacob Anderson wouldn't be so specific, telling E!Online, "I think it's safe to say that Claudia and Louis are heading for the European region of the world. They're heading towards Europe." Could they be stopping in Bulgaria or Romania first, as Jones teased?

But wherever Louis and Claudia go, one of the biggest questions hanging over Season Two concerns what (or who!) they're leaving behind. As the show and the book both reveal, what’s (un)dead never dies—Lestat will rise again. Anderson confirmed as much, saying, "Yes, I can definitively say that you will see Lestat in Season Two." Toward the end of the Season One finale, we cut to a shot of the landfill where Lestat’s coffin has been deposited; there, we see Lestat’s pale arm reach out of the coffin to snatch a rat for dinner, revealing him to be very much alive. Speaking about his character’s future in Season Two, Sam Reid told Collider, “Lestat goes to the naughty corner. I don’t know if that’s better for him, but he probably deserves it. It’s a hard lesson to learn when your husband kills you because you’ve been that terrible. That’s a pretty hectic lesson. But there is more pain to come.”

Readers of the books know that Lestat will chase Louis and Claudia around the world, intent on winning Louis back and punishing Claudia for her betrayal. According to producer Adam O'Byrne, Lestat will get a turn to tell his side of the story, though it may not happen until a hypothetical Season Three. "In the season three that Rolin has in his head, I think there will be some kind of Lestat perspective, let's put it that way," O'Byrne told The Canadian Press. "Whether that's sitting down to have an interview or some other device to show the world through his eyes."

But the season finale’s biggest reveal isn’t the double-crossing of Lestat—it’s the outing of Louis’ assistant Rashid as Armand, a famous and ancient vampire from Rice’s novels. Louis introduces Armand as “the love of my life,” leaving even book devotees to say, “Wait, what?” Though Louis and Armand have a close relationship in the text, it’s nothing like what the show depicts, leaving fans scratching their heads. Jones promised Variety, “That story is owed, and it’s one we will tell.” No doubt trouble lies ahead—Louis has traded one powerful partner for another, and if there’s one thing we know about Lestat, it’s that he won’t give Louis up quietly.

Assad Zaman, who plays Armand, told Decider, “Armand and Lestat have a complicated relationship. We know that Armand is a complicated character himself and there’s a lot of parallels between Lestat and Armand that feel that they’re almost two sides of the same coin. Their mutual love for Louis is one of those things [connecting them], but I think there’s a lot of envy there.”

Zaman teased the arrival of the Théâtre des Vampires in Season Two, saying that he can’t wait to get to this “epic” part of the story. Readers of Rice’s Vampire Chronicles know that this is a pivotal location for Lestat—located in Paris, it’s the formative place where he worked as a young mortal, met his vampire maker, wooed his first lover, and encountered Armand. In Interview With the Vampire, Louis and Claudia stumble across the theater in their travels, leading to the formation of a bond between Louis and Armand, the death of Claudia, and the ultimate burning of the theater. Zaman teasing the theater is a delicious hint at all the brutality and drama yet to come.

Will There Be New Characters?

AMC's adaptation has yet to show all its cards, meaning that we can expect some fresh faces in Season Two. Speaking with The Toronto Star, O'Byrne confirmed that at least two canonical characters will be introduced in Season Two. The first is Santiago, described by O'Byrne as "a bit of a malefactor"; readers will remember him as a powerful member of the Théâtre des Vampires who becomes an arch-enemy to Louis. We'll also meet Madeleine, Claudia's adoptive mother figure. “Her relationship with Claudia is going to be appropriately complicated in the way that it is a real interesting relationship in the book,” O'Byrne said. “We’ve got some great stuff that I think will heighten the Madeleine character and make her particularly compelling given the time period that we’re looking at."

What About the Anne Rice Multiverse?

Back in 2020, when AMC acquired the rights to Interview With the Vampire, the streamer also acquired the rights to The Vampire Chronicles (the broader series that commences with Interview) and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches. Between the two series, that's eighteen books to play around with—and now that Mayfair Witches is airing on AMC, the Anne Rice Multiverse has expanded. The late author hinted at connective tissue between the series when she said, "It's always been my dream to see the worlds of my two biggest series united under a single roof so that filmmakers could explore the expansive and interconnected universe of my vampires and witches. That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career."

What could this mean for the future of Interview With the Vampire? According to the show's creative team, it means that a crossover is imminent. Speaking at a Critics Association presentation, producer Esta Spalding revealed that one character will appear in both series, and she's "waiting for somebody to figure out" who it is.

Producer Mark Johnson doubled down on possible connections, saying, “It’s a real challenge. You don’t want to force them together. But at the same time, you have to say, ‘Okay, what does Interview have to do with Mayfair Witches?’ At first look, not a lot. They primarily take place in New Orleans, and there’s a sense of the mystery of New Orleans and the fact that New Orleans is probably the least American, American city there is. But how does that all work? One of the things we talk about with all the sets of writers is, ‘Is there a character that we can introduce in one show, who appears in the other show? Other than just a couple of locations that are gonna repeat, how are they connected?’ It’s a genuine challenge, which I welcome. We just have to be careful, so that it’s not inorganic.”

Could the connecting character Spalding mentions be Louis? When asked if Louis would appear in Mayfair Witches, Anderson replied cryptically, "I don't know what I can and can't say about that show." Johnson gave a clearer hint, telling Variety, "There are certain aspects of both worlds that can crossover over, and even characters we associate with one world could all of a sudden appear in another." In any case, the ties are already forming—remember in Episode One of Interview With the Vampire, when Louis' brother Paul jokes that there are "plenty of brooms down the street at the Mayfair sisters' home"?

The lore offers even more connections; one Mayfair Witches character, Ciprien, is a member of the Order of the Talamasca, a secret society founded to keep tabs on paranormal beings (first introduced in Queen of the Damned, the third book in the Vampire Chronicles series). Speaking with Variety after Mayfair Witches wrapped its first season, Spaulding was asked about how the Talamasca might serve as a bridge between the two shows; she replied, "The Talamasca has an enormous story in the second book, Lasher, and also the third book. So the role of the organization in our show will expand a bit. And then there will be overlaps with the worlds Mark and others are building."

With the Anne Rice Multiverse set to grow even bigger than these two shows, the possibilities are endless. Back in June 2022, AMC executive Dan McDermott revealed that there are more "unofficial projects" yet to come. "We really plan to have five or six series in that universe over the next five or six years," McDermott told Variety. "There will be an opportunity to pull characters from different shows and do what we refer to as our 'all-star' original series, taking supporting characters and maybe a lead character from one or two shows and doing original series that will be based in the Anne Rice universe. The best model would be an Avengers-style series, where you take characters from different shows and bring them together and you tell an original story using all of them and their backstory and the mythology. The objective is to honor everything about the source material and the characters' backstories and mythologies as well. But I think that's a really exciting proposition."

Lestat and Rowan Mayfair teaming up to fight evil together, Avengers-style? Sign me up! All things considered, the stage is set for a crossover—all that's left to wonder is, "On which show will it take place?"

When Will Interview With the Vampire Season Two Air?

Your guess is as good as ours. Eight episodes lie ahead, but so far, mum’s the word on when we can expect them. However, there's reason for hope—a leaked production list suggests that filming will begin in April, with the series set to film in New Orleans, Paris, and Prague. That bodes well for Interview With the Vampire gracing our screens again soon.

Watch this space for updates as we continue to learn more.

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