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

Fallout season 2 is preparing to set the world on fire again. The hugely popular Prime Video show's next entry is due out on December 17, 2025 but, while its release is months away, now's as good a time as any to get the lowdown on it.

Before the Fallout TV show's sophomore season arrives, I've rounded up the latest and biggest news, plus the odd rumor, about the Amazon TV Original's next installment. That includes further details on its trailer, cast, plot, and future seasons.

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

Fallout season 2 release date

As I mentioned above, Fallout season 2 will premiere on December 17. Previously, Amazon confirmed a surprise December 2025 launch for Fallout's next chapter, so we always knew it would be released that month. Nevertheless, it's great to have an actual release date now.

Prior to the aforementioned reveal, Ella Purnell, who plays Lucy MacLean, admitted "I don't have a script, I have literally nothing" for Fallout's second season. Thankfully, Purnell and one of her co-stars Walton Goggins provided an exciting season 2 filming update in December 2024, with the pair revealing the cameras had begun to roll. Principal photography wrapped in early May ahead of this season's launch window unveiling.

Unlike its predecessor, season 2 will air with a one-episode premiere, with new episodes releasing weekly until the final on February 6, 2026. So, you won't be able to binge watch one of the best Prime Video shows' second season when it arrives.

Fallout season 2 trailer: is there one?

Fallout – Season Two Teaser Trailer | Prime Video - YouTube

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Amazon unveiled the first trailer for Fallout season 2 at gamescom 2025 – and, unsurprisingly, it's full of noteworthy clips.

I won't cover everything that's shown in the teaser for spoiler reasons. But, we find out who'll be playing New Vegas' overlord Mr. House (more on him below), catch our first glimpse 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. In short: December 17 can't come soon enough.

Fallout season 2 confirmed cast

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 are definitely back for more adventures across the Wasteland. Indeed, Amazon confirmed as much via Fallout season 2's first-look images.

Meanwhile, Theroux's addition to the cast as Robert House, aka Mr. House, was confirmed via season 2's first teaser. He's 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."

Supporting cast members from season 1 could also return. That contingent might 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.

Per reports, Macaulay Culkin has also signed on for a mystery role in Fallout season 2, so Theroux isn't the only newcomer. However, as of August, there's no word on who Culkin might play.

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 all-too-brief 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 a great deal from what's been teased about the forthcoming season.

Last April, executive producer Jonathan Nolan told TechRadar that Fallout's creative team has "had some really cool conversations" about season 2, some of which could even impact future entries in Bethesda's videogame franchise. That's because events in Fallout's TV adaptation are deemed canon in the games.

Plot-wise, last season's finale revealed Hank was 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. The pair were 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 town that the New California Republic operated out of.

Rose – Lucy and Norm's mom, and Hank's wife – was turned into a feral ghoul due to 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 a huge fan of Cooper Howard – i.e. the A-list actor who becomes The Ghoul. In short: Hank has strong ties to all three 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 bear the physical scars – as well as the mental and emotional ones – to show for his misdemeanors.

Why is all of this important? Episode 8's final moments revealed Lucy and The Ghoul had formed an uneasy alliance to pursue Hank. 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 should learn more about in season 2 – 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 necessarily.

So, who else could it be? 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 in season 1 but Justin Theroux in season 1), an Machiavellian and engimatic 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 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 and, as evidenced by Fallout season 2's first poster, will be a major setting for the show's next chapter.

It seems, then, that Mr. House is being positioned as one of this season's primary antagonists. That seems even more likely after the release of this season's first teaser, too.

A trip to New Vegas isn't the only thing that delighted long-time fans in the mid-credits scene. Indeed, the skull of a Deathclaw, one of the most formidable monsters in the Fallout universe, was also glimpsed. Given one was teased in the first trailer, at least one Deathclaw will be part of proceedings this time around.

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 more 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 staying with the Brotherhood and wanting to be reunited 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, reunite with those Vault 33's inhabitants who resettled in the deserted Vault 32 (and whether Chet will finally reveal what actually happened there), 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. In short: Fallout season 2 has a lot of ground to cover.

Is Fallout season 2 going to be the final installment?

Nope! In May, Amazon confirmed a third season was in development, so there's plenty more to look forward to after Fallout season 2's final end credits roll.

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 – there's no reason to suspect Fallout won't continue to be successful.

For more Prime Video coverage, read our guides on The Boys season 5, Invincible season 4, Gen V season 2, and The Rings of Power season 3.