Fallout season 2: everything we know so far about the hit Prime Video show's return (release date, trailer, cast, plot)

Fallout season 2 is almost ready to emerge from its vault. The incredibly successful Prime Video TV Original will be back on our screens from December 17 onwards, so you don't have much time to learn all there is to know about it.

Ahead of its next entry, I've risked everything to bring you all of the irradiated information we've been given about the Fallout TV show's return. That includes its first trailer, confirmed and rumored cast details, story specifics, and the Amazon program's future.

Full spoilers follow for Fallout season 1. Possible season 2 spoilers are also incoming.

Fallout season 2 release date

Fallout season 2 will premiere on December 17, 2025. Amazon had confirmed a surprise December 2025 launch for Fallout's next chapter earlier this year, so we always knew it arrive before the end of the year.

Unlike its forebear, season 2 will air with a one-episode premiere, with new episodes releasing weekly until the finale on February 6, 2026. In short: you won't be able to stream one of the best Prime Video shows' second season in its entirety on launch day.

Fallout season 2 trailer

Fallout – Season Two Teaser Trailer | Prime Video - YouTube

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Amazon unveiled the first trailer for Fallout season 2 in August.

I won't cover everything that's shown in the above teaser for spoiler reasons. However, it reveals who's playing New Vegas' overlord Mr. House (more on him later), get our first-look at the show's take on the Fallout game franchise's deadly Deathclaws, flashbacks of Cooper Howard visiting New Vegas at the height of its glory, Lucy and The Ghoul working together, and Hank stumbling on what appears to be an underground Vault-Tec HQ.

Hopefully, it won't be long until another trailer is released. Once one is, I'll update this section.

Fallout season 2 cast: confirmed and rumored

Here's Fallout season 2's confirmed cast so far:

• Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean
• Aaron Moten as Maximus
• Walton Goggins as The Ghoul/Cooper Howard
• Kyle MacLachlan as Hank MacLean
• Moisés Arias as Norm MacLean
• Frances Turner as Barb Howard
• Justin Theroux as Robert House

The first six cast members were confirmed to be coming back for more Wasteland adventures via Fallout season 2's first-look images.

Supporting cast members from season 1 could also return. That could include Xelia Mendes-Jones' Dane, Johnny Pemberton's Thaddeus, Leslie Uggams' Betty Pearson, Dave Register's Chet, Annabel O'Hagen's Stephanie, Zach Cherry's Woody, Rodrigo Luzzi's Reg, and Michael Asper's Bud Askins.

Meanwhile, Theroux's addition to the cast was confirmed via season 2's first teaser. For those unfamiliar: Robert House is the enigmatic evil-doer who lauds it over New Vegas, which will play a prominent role this season.

"[House] is synonymous with Vegas, and in many ways, controls the city,” co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet told GQ. "So, it felt like it was the only right way to do an adaptation. But also, he's just an unbelievably interesting character. There's interesting questions in protecting Vegas… And is that purely for his own ends, or is there any kind of greater good that he might be after? There's so many echoes to the technocrats of our modern day.

"We find [House] in a place preparing to save Vegas from the coming apocalypse, which he has predicted within, I think, minutes or days," Theroux added. "Whatever algorithm he has run has told him exactly when the apocalypse is going to happen, and how it's going to happen. I'll say nothing else other than there's a fly in the ointment, and he has to call in Cooper Howard to help him figure out what that fly is."

Elsewhere on the newcomers list, Macaulay Culkin has also reportedly signed on for a mystery role in Fallout season 2. However, Amazon hasn't confirmed his involvement, nor revealed who he might play. Place your bets now on whether it'll be another character from the games.

Fallout season 2 story synopsis and speculation

Full spoilers follow for Fallout season 1. Possible spoilers for season 2 are also discussed.

Here's Fallout season 2's official synopsis: "The new season will pick up in the aftermath of season one’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas."

Not a lot to go on, but we can infer more plot-based elements from what's been teased about the forthcoming season. This is your final warning: full spoilers immediately follow for last season's final episode!

Season 1 episode 8 revealed Hank was one of Vault-Tec's junior employees who was placed in cryosleep inside Vault 31 before The Great War. Alongside Betty Pearson, Hank was among those reawakened over 200 years later to help Vault-Tec tyrannically rule the post-apocalyptic United States. He was also responsible for the Fall of Shady Sands – a cataclysmic event that saw a nuclear bomb dropped on the aforementioned New California Republic-run town.

Rose – Lucy and Norm's mom, and Hank's wife – was turned into a feral ghoul due to radiation poisoning from said warhead (FYI, a merciful Lucy kills Rose to end her misery in episode 8), while Maximus' entire family was killed during the initial blast. Oh, and Hank was also a huge fan of Cooper Howard – i.e. the A-list actor who becomes The Ghoul. In summary: Hank has strong ties to all three main characters.

His secret past now not-so-secret, Hank – who was accidentally freed by Maximus before Lucy could tell Maximus about Hank's villainous past – managed to escape in a stolen T60 power armor suit. He suffered a facial injury after being shot by The Ghoul, though, so he'll bear the physical scars – as well as the mental and emotional ones – to show for his crimes moving forward.

Why is all of this important? Episode 8's final scene saw Lucy and The Ghoul form an uneasy alliance – one described as a "buddy road trip", Ella Purnell told Empire magazine – to pursue Hank across the Wasteland.

For her part, Lucy wants more answers about her dad's involvement with Vault-Tec and his familial betrayal. Meanwhile, The Ghoul needs to find Hank to get information on which vault his wife and daughter – Barb and Janey – are in.

Before The Great War, Barb, a high-ranking Vault-Tec staff member, secured a place in one of the evil megacorporation's most prestigious underground bunkers for her family. However, the implied breakdown of Cooper and Barb's marriage – something we might learn more about this season – suggests Cooper lost his place following their divorce, forcing him to survive as an irradiated ghoul on the surface. It's possible Barb and Janey survived The Great War if they were cryogenically frozen in Vault 31 or another subterranean location, and Hank may know where.

All of this points to Hank being the show's primary antagonist moving forward, right?

Not completely. The season 1 finale revealed Barb was also involved in concocting the idea of The Great War to line Vault-Tec's pockets and ensure it was well positioned to rule the US after the nuclear apocalypse.

She was joined at that pivotal meeting by other scheming executives looking to make a quick buck, including RobCo owner Robert House (played by Rafi Silver, not Justin Theroux, in season 1), an Machiavellian ruler who's known as Mr. House, and who first appeared in Fallout: New Vegas. That's the title of the 2010 video game from Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment, which is viewed as one of the franchise's best entries.

Why do you need to know this? Because Fallout season 2 will head to a dilapidated version of New Vegas. It's the location we see Hank look out onto in last season's mid-credits scene and, as evidenced by Fallout season 2's first poster, will be a major setting this season. Expect House to be in the running for antagonist-in-chief in the show's next chapter.

That mid-credits tease concerning New Vegas wasn't the only thing that delighted long-time fans. Indeed, the skull of a Deathclaw, one of the most formidable monsters in the Fallout universe, was also glimpsed. With one teased in the first trailer, at least one Deathclaw will show up in season 2.

As for Maximus, his fellow Brotherhood of Steel, erm, brothers believe he was the one who killed Moldaver – his friend Dane convinces them this was the case – so he's set to have a grater influence within the group. However, Maximus fell for Lucy during the pair's Wasteland excursions last season, so we expect Maximus' allegiances to be torn between the Brotherhood and wanting to reunite with Lucy.

There are plenty of other subplots that require further examination. We need to find out how Norm plans to free himself from Vault 31, learn what happened to those Vault 33's inhabitants who resettled in the deserted Vault 32 (and whether Chet will finally reveal its harrowing past), and how Moldaver survived for over 200 years without turning into a ghoul like Cooper.

Additionally, we might catch up with Thaddeus, who believes he's starting to become a ghoul after consuming a mysterious serum from the cryptic Snake Oil Salesman. We may get more details on cold fusion, a new non-Vault-Tec technological advancement that might offer hope of a brighter future for the surface-dwelling common folk, too, so Fallout season 2 has a lot of ground to cover.

Is Fallout season 2 going to be the final installment?

No. In May, Amazon confirmed a third season was in development.

Meanwhile, speaking at Comic-Con Liverpool (as reported by The Gamer) earlier this year, Moten suggested it'll take five or six seasons to tell Fallout's full story. That tracks with comments made by showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Dworet-Robertson, who told The Hollywood Reporter they were eyeing a similar number of seasons.

Of course, much will depend on the show's ongoing popularity. But, with season 1 being one of the most-watched Prime Video TV Originals ever – 100 million people watched the first season, according to Amazon MGM Studios – there's no reason to suspect Fallout season 3 will be its final chapter.

For more Prime Video coverage, read our guides on The Boys season 5, Invincible season 4, The Rings of Power season 3, and Reacher season 4.