Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2 is in "constant dialogue" with season 1 according to creator Bartosz Sztybor, despite featuring an entirely new cast of characters – and it all stems from a what-if moment revolving around David Martinez.
"I remember while writing season 1, I had a thought: 'What if David made it? What if he didn't die?' He will become this celebrity Edgerunner in a few years," Sztybor tells GamesRadar+.
"But then I thought, okay, he's a flawed character and tragic persona – it wouldn't end well for him. That's why the character of Weak is in Edgerunners season 2… I wanted to create something that will be in constant dialogue with Edgerunners season 1."
In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2, Weak Kingsley (voiced in the English dub by Clancy Brown) is described as "a veteran edgerunner" once at the top of his game. Now, though, he "lives in the shadow of his former glory."
That theme of Night City's major players overshooting their sell-by date is something that courses through the veins of the new season.
"In Edgerunners season 1, it's zero to hero. In Edgerunners season 2, it's hero to zero," Sztybor says. "Those were the core ideas for season 2. To connect that with the aftermath of season 1 was also an important thought."
Yet, Edgerunners season 2 was never going to be a direct sequel to the story of David and his crew's dramatic showdown with the corpos at Arasaka in the first season.
"We started brainstorming with Studio Trigger, and then we found other characters and other things to put in this season… [For season 2, I thought] Night City is a place full of stories and I want to tell more."
CD Projekt also confirmed that David's story wouldn't continue. "David is dead. But Night City lives on," was the word from its official blog, alongside a brief logline: "In a city that thrives in the spotlight of violence, one question remains: when the world is blinded by spectacle, what extremes do you have to go to make your story matter?"
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2 is released on Netflix on October 20.
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