Fallout season 2: everything we know about the hit Prime Video show's return

Fallout season 2 is officially in development. That's right, the hit Amazon series has been renewed for a second season after the *ahem* rad reception season 1 was met with. So, gear up for more outlandishly funny moments, bizarre retrofuturistic adventuring, captivating melodrama, and a smorgasbord of Easter eggs from Bethesda's iconic video game universe (which the TV show is also set in).

With the popular Prime Video show's next entry still in early development, it'll be some time before we learn anything official about its release date, get news about its cast and plot, and see any footage. Still, based on what happened in season 1 of Amazon's Fallout TV show, we can speculate on all of the above and more in this guide.

Before you dive in: if you haven't seen Fallout's first season, a) what are you doing here!? and b) read our Fallout season 1 review first to see what all the fuss is about. Then, go and stream it because, from this point on, major spoilers follow for Fallout season 1.  

Fallout season 2 release date: what we know

Fallout season 2 doesn't have a release date. It was only announced by Amazon on April 18 and, as it's in early development, a launch date won't be revealed for a long time.

It's difficult to pinpoint when we might see one of the best Prime Video shows make its irradiated return, too, as we've no idea how far along in the development process it is. In short: it could be 18 months to two years before the first live-action story set in Bethesda's satirical post-apocalyptic game series re-emerges from its vault.

Fallout season 2 rumored cast

Amazon hasn't announced which cast members will be back in Fallout season 2. Based on season 1's ending, however, we're confident that the following will return:

• 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
• Xelia Mendes-Jones as Dane
• Johnny Pemberton as Thaddeus
• Frances Turner as Barb Howard
• Leslie Uggams as Betty Pearson

Other supporting cast members are also likely to be back, including Dave Register's Chet, Annabel O'Hagen's Stephanie, Zach Cherry's Woody, and Rodrigo Luzzi's Reg for the Vaults-based storyline.

Michael Esper and Sarita Choudhury might reprise their roles as Vault-Tec employee Bud Askins and the New California Republic (NCR) commander Lee Moldaver, too. We'd be surprised if season 2 doesn't deliver more flashback sequences that predate the Great War and/or explore more about the NCR's creation and role in founding Shady Sands. If it does, Askins and Moldaver will certainly be back.

There are also bound to be new additions to the show's acting roster. Speaking to IGN, season 1 director and executive producer Jonathan Nolan revealed that Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Westworld) has already inquired about featuring in season 2, so don't be surprised if more famous faces cameo in the same manner as Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) in season 1.

Fallout season 2 plot speculation

There isn't a plot synopsis for Fallout season 2 yet. Nobody – outside of the main creative team, anyway – knows what it'll entail, but we can speculate on where the series might go, based on season 1's numerous unresolved plot threads and what some of its crew have teased in interviews.

In non-spoiler terms, Nolan exclusively told TechRadar (ahead of season 1's release) that the Fallout crew have "had some really cool conversations" about season 2, some of which could impact future games in the series that Bethesda creates (remember, everything that happens in Fallout's TV show is canon in the wider franchise). He declined to elaborate further when pressed for more details, though. Now that the first season is out in full, however, we have a better idea of what might lie in store for Lucy and company very soon. 

Full spoilers follow for Fallout season 1 from now on. Don't read past the image below unless you want firm details on what'll be part of the second season.

One of the most important storylines, if not the most, that needs to be built upon involves Hank, Lucy and Norm's dad. 

In the season 1 finale, Hank was revealed as one of Vault-Tec's junior employees who was placed in cryosleep, alongside the likes of Betty Pearson, inside Vault 31 before The Great War. He was then reawakened over 200 years later to help Vault-Tec try to 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 town that the NCR operated out of. As an aside, the NCR were almost wiped from existence during their showdown with the Brotherhood in episode 8 but, speaking to IGN, Howard teased: "I don't think you've heard the last of the NCR."

But we digress. Lucy's mom, and Hank's wife, Rose was turned into a ghoul as a result of radiation poisoning from said warhead (Lucy kills her to end Rose's misery in episode 8, by the way), while Maximus' entire family was killed during the initial blast. Oh, and Hank was also the Vault-Tec employee who was one of the biggest fans of Cooper Howard – i.e. the A-list actor that The Ghoul used to be. In short: Hank has strong ties to all three of the series' main characters.

After those revelations came to light, 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 have the physical scars – as well as the mental and emotional ones – to show for his misdemeanors.

Okay, why is all of this so important? The final few minutes of episode 8 revealed that Lucy and The Ghoul had formed an uneasy alliance to track Hank down. For her part, Lucy will want more answers about her dad's involvement with Vault-Tec and his familial betrayal.

As for the harrowing, eye-opening, and world-shattering journey Lucy has gone on throughout season 1, it's clear it's left its mark on Fallout's primary protagonist – Purnell telling GQ that "I don’t know who she’s gonna be in season 2, [but] this is what happens when you break the unbreakable. I don’t know who she’s about to become. How Lucy feels about her hope... she recognises that something is irreversibly lost, or broken, inside her. Maybe she still does maintain it in season 2, but it will never be the same. It can’t."

And what does Purnell want to tackle in Lucy's season 2 arc? "I’d like to see her become her own person," she tells GQ. "I’d like to see her form some opinions that feel truly and wholly hers, and not a product of her upbringing, or a product of Vault-Tec. I think part of her being a good person is just truly her, and I think that is just who she is. I don’t know if that’s going to stay or going to go, I’d be down to play it either way. But I’d also like to see her go, like, ‘No, I don’t like this food,’ or ‘No, I don’t think what you…’ A little tiny rebellion, maybe."

Meanwhile, The Ghoul needs to find Hank to learn which vault his wife and daughter – Barb and Janey – are in. As Barb revealed at various points in season 1, the high-ranking Vault-Tec staff member secured a place in one of the evil corporation's most prestigious underground bunkers for her family, Cooper included. Of course, the implied breakdown of Cooper and Barb's marriage – something we should learn more about in season 2 – suggests that Cooper's reserved place was taken away 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 necessarily. Speaking to IGN, Nolan simply teased "you'll have to stay tuned" to find out if this is the case.

So, who else could it be? The season 1 finale revealed that Barb was also involved in concocting the idea of The Great War in a bid to line Vault-Tec's pockets and ensure it was well positioned to laud it over the US after the nuclear apocalypse. 

She was joined in that pivotal meeting by other scheming executives looking to make a quick buck, including RobCo owner Robert House (played by Rafi Silver). In Bethesda title Fallout: New Vegas, this Machiavellian individual (known as Mr. House in New Vegas) is the enigmatic ruler of the titular city. And, with Fallout season 2 seemingly heading to a dilapidated version of New Vegas – it's the location we see Hank look out onto in the season 1 finale's mid-credits scene – there's the potential for Mr. House to take a leading, villainous role in the show's sophomore outing.

Speaking to GQ, co-showrunner Graham Wagner didn't exactly shoot down that possibility, saying: "We certainly intend to expand on that [the Vault-Tec meeting and its nefarious characters]. That is an interesting moment to be double-clicked, as they say, in a future story."

The New Vegas tease isn't the only thing that delighted long-time fans in the mid-credits scene. We also got a glimpse of a Deathclaw skull, one of the most formidable monsters in the Fallout universe. Speaking to The Wrap post-season 1 release, Wagner confirmed Deathclaws would appear in season 2, adding: "It’s such a monumental piece, we want to save something for season 2 to be able to do it properly, not just added onto the massive world building we had to do already in season 1. So season 2, we’re very excited to finally tackle one of the most iconic elements of the games."

Let's not forget Maximus' role in proceedings heading into season 2. With his fellow Brotherhood of Steel, erm, brothers believing that he was the one who killed Moldaver – his friend Dane convinces them that this was the case – it seems he's set for a more influential role in the group's hierarchy. But, with Maximus having fallen for Lucy during the pair's excursions across the Wasteland, coupled with his worldview being altered by all of those season 1 revelations, we expect Maximus' allegiances to be torn between staying with the Brotherhood and wanting to find and be with Lucy.

There are plenty of other subplots that require further examination. One of the more prominent ones concerns how Norm will free himself after being trapped in Vault 31. As Arias told Inverse, Norm is "going to have to use every ounce of intellect he has to get himself out of that one", which hints at a protracted jailbreak for Lucy's inquisitive brother.

Other notable storylines include some of Vault 33's inhabitants resettling in the deserted Vault 32 (and whether Chet will finally reveal what actually happened there), how Moldaver survived for over 200 years without turning into a ghoul like Cooper (Choudhury declined to give away any answers when asked by Inverse), and how and when Cooper and Barb's marriage ended. The answers to this trio lie in flashbacks to a time before The Great War and what Vault-Tec's overarching goal is, so we can expect more glimpses into the past when season 2 rolls around.

In the present, we might catch up with Thaddeus, who believes he's starting to become a ghoul after he consumed a mysterious serum from the cryptic Snake Oil Salesman that healed his mangled foot and saved him from a near-death experience with an arrow-based trap. 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. Oh, and let's not forget Lucy and Maximus' burgeoning romance, which is on ice for the time being, given the pair have temporarily gone their separate ways – Nolan teasing to IGN that "we'll see if they can find each other again".

Then there are subplots that were cut from season 1. During their chat with GQ, Wagner and fellow co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet revealed that "a cannibal encounter" was dropped for runtime purposes, but the pair are confident "we'll find a place in season two for some of those, because some of them were really fun, and it was tragic to lose them."

It goes without saying, but we'll also get plenty more Easter eggs and references to the dense Fallout universe that Bethesda created in its game series. There were tons of those in season 1, so don't be surprised if its follow-up is similarly stuffed with callbacks to the show's action role-playing game siblings.

Fallout season 2 trailer: is there one?

No, and there won't be a Fallout season 2 trailer for a long time. Once one is released, we'll update this section.

Is Fallout season 2 going to be the final installment?

Nobody knows. Right now, Nolan and Co are focused on developing Fallout season 2 and that's likely to be the case until its development is complete.

Chatting to IGN, Nolan said of plans for future seasons: "I think you have a responsibility when you undertake one of these journeys to have a bit of a plan. You'd also be foolish to not account for the things along the way... but you also want to be flexible enough and adaptable enough that you're not locked into that. And for the obvious reason that especially these days with these shows, you want to make every season as great as you can.

"If you're lucky enough to go again, you make a follow-up, you leave enough material and you have enough of a master plan from the beginning that you know what the next step would be, and we have been talking for some time now about the next steps for Fallout, and we're very excited about it."

Given the richness of Bethesda's Fallout franchise, there's plenty more for Prime Video's adaptation to explore and expand on from the games. If the show doesn't wrap up its main characters' stories by the end of season 2, it could continue to follow them in a third installment. Alternatively, season 3 could be set in an entirely new location (not unlike the games) and introduce us to new characters to not only fall in love with but also see how they navigate a post-nuclear war-torn Earth and potentially unearth new revelations about Vault-Tec. Think along the lines of an anthology series like True Detective (now available on Max), or Fargo and American Horror Story (Hulu and Disney Plus), and you'll get the gist.

Whatever direction Amazon's Fallout TV series goes in, then, there's plenty more material – old and new – to mine and explore respectively. War never changes – and neither will our adoration for this show if it continues to be as good as season 1 was. Roll on season 2 and more besides, we say.

For more Prime Video coverage, read our guides on the best Prime Video movies, The Rings of Power season 2, The Boys season 4, and how much a Prime Video subscription costs.