Everything You Need to Know About 'Empire' Season 2

The king isn’t dead, but he is in prison — and his throne is up for grabs.

When Empire finished its blockbuster first season last March, hip-hop mogul Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) was forced to hand over his crown, but not because he was dying from ALS as he feared. Lucious learned he was misdiagnosed, but the bad news came in the form of an arrest for the murder of his pal Bunkie.

Season 2 kicks off with Lucious in prison and ex-wife Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and their three sons battling for control of Empire Records.

“Where Season 1 was ‘Who will inherit the throne?,’ Season 2 is warring kingdoms,” co-creator Danny Strong tells Yahoo TV.

Here are eight juicy scoops to know about the second season of Empire, which premieres Sept. 23.

1. The roles are reversed for Lucious and Cookie.

When Empire first debuted, Cookie had just completed a long prison sentence, while Lucious had spent those years building a billion-dollar company. She had to fight and dig and scratch for a role; now, with Lucious behind bars, they’ve switched places.

Empire dropped a teaser trailer in which Cookie visits her orange-jumpsuited ex. But even as she’s organizing #FreeLucious concerts, Cookie is plotting to take control of the company.

“Lucious is a musical genius, but he’s lost his way,” she says, mingling with investor types. And Cookie will form an alliance with a venture capitalist played by Marisa Tomei. When Lucious gets out, he might find that his seat at the table isn’t waiting for him.

2. You get to be a guest star, and you get to be a guest star, and everybody gets to be a guest star!

Tomei is just the first name in a long list of celebrity guest appearances booked for Season 2. Pitbull collaborates with Jussie Smollett on a song in the premiere titled “No Doubt About It.”

Chris Rock, Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz, Ludacris, Al Sharpton, Andre Leon Talley, and Ne-Yo will all show up on Empire this year. There are also rumors swirling that Mariah Carey is interested in guesting. Oh, and maybe Oprah or Common will stop by, too.

“I’d be thrilled if Oprah was on the show. But Oprah is a very busy lady, and I have no idea whether it will ever happen,” showrunner Ilene Chaiken told Deadline. “I know she loves the show and loves Lee, and if anybody could ever make it happen it would be Lee.”

3. Cookie’s getting some more nookie.

With Lucious in prison, and their on-again/off-again relationship in the “off” state for awhile, Cookie has other romantic interests on the horizon — like Laz Delgado, an ex-cop turned concert promoter played by Adam Rodriguez.

“He’s a concert promoter suffering from PTSD because of his experience as a cop and first responder during 9/11. And I think he sees something in Cookie and she sees something in him that they recognize in each other,” Rodriguez told Urban Daily. “And I think that kind of leads them down a path to explore a little romance. And see where all of that goes. So it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

4. She’s not the only one — things heat up for Hakeem, too.

Last we saw Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray aka Yazz), he was in bed with, of all people, Anika! Oh, no you didn’t, Boo Boo Kitty! The youngest Lyon’s love life was a mess last season, with his stunt relationship with Tiana (Serayah) and the May-December romance with Camilla (Naomi Campbell).

Serayah will be back in Season 2 as Tiana, but Camilla is stuck in England for now. But new to the radar is “talented vocalist, Laura” who “isn’t exactly down with Hakeem’s romantic intentions,” according to TVLine.

5. Jamal is called to the dark side.

Last we saw Jamal, he was dangling Billy Beretti off a balcony to gain control of Empire’s masters. That impressed his dad, and led Lucious to crown him as his heir. In Season 2, Jamal will continue to explore that dark side we glimpsed in the first-season finale.

“Watch out for Jamal: He’s like the gay 2Pac — he ain’t playing!” Jussie Smollett told Billboard. “People aren’t always going to agree with the choices that Jamal makes. He’s changing, and sometimes those changes are not going to be so great.”

Those changes affect his relationship with Cookie (don’t expect them to be joined at the hip this season) and with Hakeem. They’re still brothers and love each other — and continue to collaborate on songs like “Ain’t About the Money” — but they will be at odds.

6. Andre and Rhonda will get the spotlight more often.

Last we saw Andre (Trai Byers), he was scuffling with longtime mentor Vernon when wife Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) hit Vernon over the head — and accidentally killed him. And she begged him not to call the police, because she was pregnant! Will the death drive them further apart, or bring them back together?

“We love that Andre-Rhonda dynamic, and whether they’re coming back together in the way they were before, or whether they have to renegotiate their relationship, is really interesting to us,” Chaiken teased to TVLine. “We also have to look at whether or not Andre’s [religious] conversion, if that’s indeed what it is, plays into it.”

7. Things get real in Season 2.

One of the few knocks on Empire Season 1 was its oddly-dated portrayal of the music industry. But this year, the writers are tackling more current issues — like the Drake vs. Meek Mill feud or the controversy over Spotify’s artist payments.

And, of course, since this is 2015, reality TV will impinge on the Lyon family. As TVLine reports, Episode 4 will feature “an aggressive reality show producer who firmly believes in getting good video by stirring up bad ish.”

We’ll see what Cookie has to say about that!

8. The family drama gets bigger and even more complicated.

The Lyons aren’t the only family at war; Cookie’s relatives are ready to do battle, too. Show creator Lee Daniels has hinted at strife in Cookie’s family before, saying he wanted to do a prequel focused on her.

In Season 2, Vivica A. Fox will guest star as Cookie’s eldest sister (we’ve already met Tasha Smith’s Carol). And though her reasons for visiting are unknown, we’ll take a guess that they aren’t good. As Chaiken told EW, “Cookie’s other family members are troublesome to say the least.”

We’d expect nothing less from people related to Cookie.

Empire Season 2 premieres Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. on Fox.