In April 2024, Fallout debuted on Prime Video and introduced viewers to their next favorite video game turned into a series, filled with radiation zombies and tons of body horror. The must-watch show takes place in the distant future, two centuries after a nuclear holocaust ended modern civilization (hence all of the vintage needle-drops). Countless different factions populate the Wasteland that was once L.A., but the show focuses on three main players: Lucy MacLean (Yellowjackets star Ella Purnell), who grew up in a Vault underground and ventures to the surface to save her abducted father (played by Kyle MacLachlan); Maximus (Aaron Moten), a squire in the mech-suit aided cop-cult Brotherhood of Steel; and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a seemingly immortal bounty hunter who was also alive before the bombs dropped.
The Emmy-winning series delighted gamers and TV fans alike with its dystopian, lore-filled, intricately plotted story. (Westworld's Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy serve as executive producers, and the vibe of the two shows is not dissimilar.) The series made such a splash that Amazon quickly made big plans for the show's future. It was renewed just a week after the premiere, which makes sense, considering the demand: According to Prime Video, at the time, the show ranked among the streamer's top three most-watched titles ever within just four days of its debut, and it was their most-watched series since the Lord of the Rings reboot Rings of Power. With the fan interest surrounding Fallout season 2, below, we're breaking down everything there is to know.
When will season 2 of 'Fallout' be released?
Okay dokey, Fallout fans: It's time to buckle up because season 2 is almost here. Just days before the original release date of Wednesday, December 17, Prime Video decided Christmas came early by announcing via a press release that Fallout will now premiere one day earlier than planned. Now, the first episode will arrive at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Tuesday, December 16. The streamer teased the news by turning the Sphere in Las Vegas, the season 2 setting, into a snow globe featuring Fallout's fan-favorite characters.
Following the December 16th premiere, the rest of the season will roll out weekly on Wednesdays until the February 4th finale.
Which of the cast will return for 'Fallout' season 2?
Most of the main cast will return for the next season, including Ella Purnell (Lucy MacLean), Aaron Moten (Maximus), Walton Goggins (The Ghoul), Kyle MacLachlan (Hank MacLean), Moisés Arias (Norm MacLean), Frances Turner (Barb Howard), Michael Esper (Bud Askins), Leslie Uggams (Betty Pearson), Dave Register (Chet), Annabel O’Hagan (Stephanie Harper), Zach Cherry (Woody Thomas), Rodrigo Luzzi (Reg McPhee), Johnny Pemberton (Thaddeus), and Xelia Mendes-Jones (Dane).
The biggest question right now is whether Sarita Choudhury could return, as her character Moldaver was shot in the finale. But if Moldaver could survive 200 years post-apocalypse, who says death can stop her?
Are there any new cast members in 'Fallout' season 2?
Fallout is building out its already impressive cast even more. In early November 2024, Deadline reported that '90s icon and former child star Macaulay Culkin is set to appear in season 2. The details regarding who he'll be playing are scarce and yet to be confirmed by Prime Video, but the outlet shared that Culkin is said to portray "a crazy genius-type character." Sounds great!
In a surprise move, the release of the first teaser trailer revealed that Justin Theroux is also a new cast member. His casting appears to have been made quietly and kept under wraps. However, we do know who he's playing: Prime Video stated in a press release that The Leftovers alum will portray game character Robert House. Fans of the series may recall House had a brief appearance in season 1, but now that Theroux is in the role and the show is headed to Vegas, you can expect to see even more of him—considering he's the ruler of Sin City.
What will happen in 'Fallout' season 2?
Season 1 of Fallout ended with two major cliffhangers. Firstly, a heartbroken Lucy learned that her father, Hank (MacLachlan), is secretly a part of the conspiracy behind the Vaults. It's revealed that, before the bombs dropped, Hank was an employee of Vault-Tec, the defense contractor that sold spots for families to their doomsday Vaults. To ensure that their business model paid off, Vault-Tec dropped the nuclear bombs themselves to start the war and monopolize the industry. (This detail is original to the show, which ends decades of debate among video game fans regarding who started the apocalypse.)
If prompting Armageddon wasn't bad enough, Vault-Tec also conspired to use the Vaults as sadistic social experiments, installing systems to test which Vault would become the ultimate society. Lucy's Vault 33 was connected to two others, and her brother Norm (Moisés Arias) discovers that Vault 31 is full of the cryogenically frozen brains of Vault-Tec workers. They've been preserved since before the war, and once awakened, they often end up being elected as an overseer of the other Vaults. Also, their mission extends to ensuring civilization doesn't restart on the surface, taking away their monopoly. Hank has gone to extreme lengths to fulfill his role, including destroying the surface community Shady Sands (and radiating Lucy's mother in the process when she took their children to live there).
In the final battle to capture the McGuffin that everyone's been searching for all season, which turns out to be the key to infinite power via cold fusion, Hank escapes, and Maximus is knocked out. The Ghoul offers Lucy two choices: Stay and likely get killed by the Brotherhood, or join him in tracking down Hank, who knows where the remaining members of Ghoul's family may be hiding out.
She decides to go with him, setting up season 2 with a road trip plot line, as they set out to track him down. The final scene also shows a hint of Hank's destination, at least for a couple of episodes: New Vegas, the town that's the subject of one of the most popular Fallout games. Basically, expect many more interesting characters and even more bloodshed.
Is there a trailer for 'Fallout' season 2?
Okey dokey, here we go! Prime Video unveiled the official season 2 trailer about one month before the premiere date. The clip gives a greater sense of the bonkers world The Ghoul and Lucy are entering as they head to New Vegas in search of her father. "What exactly is it you plan on doing once we find your daddy?" he asks his new partner in crime. Her answer? "Gonna bring him to justice."
According to the clip, the journey to do that won't be so easy; they'll face a whole slew of notorious creatures, familiar to game fans, and battle with adversaries, all the while a war brews in the backdrop.
The trailer gives a first look at several newcomers, including Macaulay Culkin, Kumail Nanjiani, and Justin Theroux's characters. There's also exploding mice, shots of Sin City, and so much more.
If you're eager for even more footage, Prime Video also shared a teaser in mid-August, showing The Ghoul and Lucy trudging through the desert. "Wanna know why the world ended? It started here with one man," The Ghoul says, referring to their destination of Las Vegas.
There, The Ghoul comes face to face with Theroux's seemingly very powerful, very dangerous new character who rules over the city. "Like yourself, I am the very best at what I do, and what I do is I know everything," Theroux's character Robert House says to him. "I know there’s a war coming. The bombs will only be the beginning. My concern is that you would do just about everything to save your family. I think you are actually quite a violent man. You just don’t want to kill me yet." The clip then teases images of explosions and characters putting on machinery to prepare for battle; so it looks like a war is indeed coming—and like this season will be even more epic than the first.
What has the cast and crew said about season 2?
In an interview with GQ, creators Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet teased some of the storylines they're excited to explore in season 2, including Lucy's motivation as she goes after her dad.
"What exactly her precise motive is is something we're very excited to dive into more in season 2, but I wouldn't ever underestimate Lucy's curiosity as something that's motivating her deep down," Robertson-Dworet told the outlet. "As much as she leaves to find her father in the pilot, she also wants to f--kin' know what's out that door. Similarly, over the course of the season, she's learned that everything she thought about the world, in her vault, was wrong, right? ... There's a certain amount of, ‘I want to understand, I want to leave the cave again.’ In a way, it's a mirror image to the pilot."
The co-showrunners have also teased that one of the most beloved monsters from the game will make it to the screen in season 2. While speaking with TheWrap, the pair confirmed that some characters next season will have to face off against the apex predators of the Fallout universe, the Deathclaws.
“We wanted to get Deathclaws [in season 1], but we didn’t want to just throw it away. It’s such a monumental piece,” Wagner explained. “We want to save some something for season 2 to be able to do it properly, not just added on to 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.”
