Netflix has yet to confirm 1899 season 2. Given its success in the streamer's Top 10 chart over the last few weeks, though, it's likely that it will at some point in the near future. Below, we look into what that might entail, from a potential release date and plot to expected cast returns.
If – or when – it does, the next chapter of the multilingual show is bound to look very different than its first; it might even get a new title. Created by Dark's Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, 1899 – the most expensive German series of all time – takes place in the late 19th Century and centers on a diverse group of people aboard the Kerberos, a steamship making its way from London to New York City. Partway through the vessel's journey, its passengers' hopes of starting new lives are dashed, however, when they receive a distress signal from a ship that has been reported missing.
Realizing it's relatively nearby, the captain instructs his crew to divert their travels and investigate. But once they make its connection, chaos ensues. As mutinies break out on deck of the Kerboros, numerous people start inexplicably dying, and the unravelling of a mind-bending mystery begins...
It should go without saying that this article contains major spoilers, so if you've not yet finished 1899 season 1, turn away now. Right, now let's get into it...
1899 season 2 release date speculation
Netflix hasn't even renewed 1899 for a second season yet, so unsurprisingly, there's no official release date for it. We'll be sure to update you, though, once we know more.
Whatever happens, fans had better prepare themselves to wait a while for any new episodes. The first season filmed between May and November 2021, but the series didn't release for another year due to extensive editing, subtitling, and special effects work. With that, we can probably expect it to be another couple of years before 1899 returns to Netflix.
1899 season 2 cast
Given how 1899 's first season ends, which we delve into below, it seems fair to assume that most of the main cast will be back for season 2. Among those will be Emily Beecham (as neurologist Maura Franklin), Andreas Pietschmann (Eyk Larsen), Aneurin Barnard (Daniel Solace), Fflyn Edwards (Elliot), José Pimentão (Ramiro), Yann Gael (Jérôme), Mathilde Ollivier (Clémence), Isabella Wei (Ling Yi), Gabby Wong (Yuk Je), Maria Erwolter (Iben), Alexandre Willaume (Anker), Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen (Krester), Clara Rosager (Tove), Rosalie Craig (Virginia Wilson), Anton Lesser (as Maura's father Henry Singleton).
Miguel Bernardeau's Ángel, the wealthy Spaniard in a complicated romantic relationship with Ramiro, dies after being hit by falling debris in episode 7, 'The Storm'. French former soldier Lucien (Jonas Bloquet) perishes from a seizure, too. But now that it's been proven that their experiences onboard of the Kerberos were all part of a simulation, the characters are definitely going to make a comeback...
1899 season 2 plot
There's sure to be plenty of twists and turns in a follow-up season to 1899, but the finale sets things up for future episodes in a way that indicates some of what will come next. It sees the Maura we've known so far finally use the 'wake up' key and find herself alone – and sporting short hair! – on a spacecraft. She clocks a wedding ring on her left hand, before glancing over at a computer terminal, which alerts her to the fact that the vehicle she's on is called Prometheus, the name of the other ship from earlier on in the story, and that the year is 2099.
"I don't know if it's that wild a theory, but every single person that you see in the final scene is there for a reason," Yuk Je actor Gabby Wong said in an interview with Metro recently. "Even though you might not have gotten any answers or any elaborate elaboration of it in season 1, every single person in that room is there for a reason."
While the sea-faring simulation had previously made out that Maura's father was the orchestrator of the Kerberos experiment, her pops Henry reveals to Maura that she was the one who created them in episode 8. Her and her husband invented it, before she willingly signed herself up in order to forget her son, who was succumbing to an illness at the time, ever existed. Things only started spiraling, apparently, when her brother Ciaran took over. Maura doesn't believe him at first, but the statement seems to prove true on the Prometheus, as the computer screen she's looking at reads: "Hello, sister. Welcome to reality."
With that, season 2 is likely to explore how Ciaran assumed control of the simulations, and perhaps how Maura made them in the first place. It seems reasonable to also assume that it'll examine how Maura and her family know the people who were aboard the Kerberos, and whether they agreed to take part in this project or if they're doing so against their will.
"From Dark, we really think the audience is smart and can have fun with puzzles. So we don't want to fool them," Baran bo Odar told IndieWire. "We rather want to play a trick in front of them, showing them that, of course, it's a trick. You just still haven't figured out what the trick is."
Will there be a third season of 1899?
Creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese have already stated that they have a three-season plan in mind for 1899.
"For us, it was important that in the first episode, really from the get-go, you feel unbalanced. It does feel a little bit like an 1899 historical drama piece, but something is off," Friese recently told IndieWire. "What we constantly do is play with expectations. You read a code and you expect something and you feel safe in that. You think you figured it out. We're breaking that expectation, and then hopefully giving you a satisfactory answer. At least at the end of season 3, but hopefully already during the very first season."
Well, that's all we know about a potential second season of 1899 so far, but we'll be sure to keep you updated on the latest news as the weeks go on. For now, the first 8 episodes are streaming on Netflix.
If you've already binged the whole thing, check out our list of the best Netflix shows to watch right now.
