Raising Dion spoilers follow.
Ever since it was announced that Marvel's Michael B Jordan was working on a brand new series for Netflix (he both appears in the series and is an exec producer), his fanboys and girls were patiently waiting for its arrival.
Raising Dion, which is based on Dennis Liu's comic book and short film of the same name, follows seven-year-old Dion, a boy who has inherited superpowers from his dad. We're talking telekinesis, invisibility, teleportation and the ability to heal, among others.
Pretty cool, right? Except a dangerous lightning man (or "crooked man", as Dion called him), attempted to take his powers away, which would involve the show's lead becoming trapped inside a cruel and unforgiving storm, just like his dad Mark.
Dion, his mum Nicole and their A-team managed to defeat the nefarious energy which had possessed Pat and forced him to do its evil bidding, but the spirit lived on.
"He was 40 or 50 feet away from having the powers that everyone else got, you know?" Jason Ritter told Thrillist. "But he just happened to stay in the yurt and he got the poisonous part of what happened instead. And so, it turned him into something that is continuously weakening and ailing and dying. So he has to go through some sort of moral acrobatics, to justify what he's doing."
Chatting to TVLine about Pat's reveal, Ritter said: "I remember in the script, my eyes popping out at a certain point."
The show's closing scene involved Brayden, a young boy who had also inherited superpowers from his dad, becoming possessed just like Pat.
Clearly there's scope for a lot more, but will Raising Dion be back for round two? Here's everything you need to know.
Raising Dion season 2 release date: When will it air?
Season two has been officially confirmed by Netflix, with co-creator and showrunner Carol Barbee back on board for the show's second chapter.
Jordan will also be back as executive producer.
Raising Dion came in at number 10 on Netflix's most popular US series releases of 2019, so it's hardly a surprise that they're bringing it back for round two.
There isn't currently a release date on the table, but given that numerous publications reported that production was set to kick off in January this year, we're going to be waiting quite a while.
The announcement was made via a video featuring Senegalese artist Bou Bou painting a portrait of Dion and his mum Nicole.
Raising Dion season 2 cast: Who's in it?
The key players managed to survive the events of the series' debut run, so all of the following will be back: Dion (Ja'Siah Young), Nicole (Alisha Wainwright), Esperanza (Sammi Haney), Suzanne (Ali Ahn) and auntie Kat (Jazmyn Simon).
We'd also expect Jordan to return as Dion's father Mark, and fingers crossed we get to see Charlotte (Deirdre Lovejoy) again.
The pair have both been imprisoned by the crooked man, but could we see them released if Dion finds a way to defeat the force?
It feels unlikely that Pat will be back, however, following the events of the big battle at the end of season one when he appeared to vaporise into thin air.
Season two will feature some new faces. How to Get Away with Murder star Rome Flynn and Sweet Magnolias actress Tracey Bonner have signed up to play some intriguing characters.
Flynn (Gabriel Maddox in How to Get Away with Murder) will join the cast as Tevin Wakefield, a former long-distance runner and Olympic coach who becomes a trainer and mentor to Dion and develops a close relationship with him and Nicole.
Bonner (Pastor June Wilkes in Sweet Magnolias) has been cast as Simone Carr, a mother who is terrified about what her daughter Janelle's own powers could mean for her future.
Janelle will be played by Aubriana Davis (Young Erma in Genius). 15-year-old Janelle has been labelled as destructive and dangerous, leading Simone to bring her to Biona, where Janelle begins to feel heard for the first time after forming a bond with Nicole and Dion.
But maybe don't expect these new characters to have many scenes with Michael B Jordan. He's rumoured for another big superhero project: Superman - even if he has denied involvement.
"It's smart of DC to grab Ta-Nehisi [Coates] to go ahead and adapt that project," Jordan said (via The Hollywood Reporter). "He's incredibly talented. It's going to be worth checking out. I'm flattered that people have me in that conversation. It's definitely a compliment, but I'm just watching on this one."
But there's another huge franchise that'll keep Jordan distracted β the third instalment of Rocky spin-off Creed. And this time, Jordan will be settling into the director's chair. And it's a responsibility heβs going to be taking very seriously.
"That's something that has a lot of my attention and time going into," the actor says. "I'm just really excited about stepping behind the camera and being able to tell a story from my perspective."
Of course, Jordan's used to responsibility β he's an executive producer on Raising Dion, which was probably a stepping stone towards becoming a director.
"I think you're always going to get a little bit of that residual Rocky-isms that's been instilled into Adonis," Jordan continued, "but at the end of the day this is a Creed franchise moving forward and I'm looking forward to people enjoying the story of Adonis Creed."
Raising Dion season 2 plot: What will it be about?
Raising Dion season one threw a lot of different ideas at its loyal audience, creating almost as many plot elements as Dion had powers, which means there are several loose ends to fuse together using laser vision (or something) in season two.
Probably the most important stray narrative involves Dion's father, which has frayed into a potential plot hole.
In the first season, Dion's father Mark's (Michael B Jordan) ghost appears up every now and again to visit his family. It's all a bit 'Star Wars Force ghost', but the rules aren't clear β it initially seems Mark's soul might be trapped in the storm created by The Crooked Man, but when The Crooked Man is defeated, Mark reappears again and gives his family a moving hug.
Mark explains that "energy never dies" which is a bit like The Last Jedi's 'no-one is ever really gone' β tying the concept even closer to Star Wars. But, much like master Yoda's ability to strike trees with lightning in that movie, Mark's newfound ability to be corporeal despite being dead flings a whole load of problems into the narrative.
Like, what's to stop him from just being alive again and rejoining his family? And if these are the rules of this universe, where's Charlotte Tuck (Deirdre Lovejoy)? She sacrificed her life for Dion, so surely she deserves a bit of company, too?
We'd also expect season two to go deeper on Dion's relationship to Biona Labs, which seemed villainous to begin with, before revealing themselves as the good guys. Unless there's a heel turn ahead, we'd expect them to carry on helping Dion, possibly developing the advanced super suit he so desperately needs.
And we'd like a little bit of romance for widow Nicole (unless season two goes all Ghost, and slots Mark into the Patrick Swayze role), with season one's contenders β Rashad and Mr Anthony β still very much on the shelf. One of season one's real successes was how it developed various relationships that we'd like to see that expand romantically, because we're softies like that.
"I feel like, for Nicole, you see her put a firm no on romance from episode one," Wainwright told Collider. "There's a connection there with her husband, at the end of the season, so for me, I would love to explore what love looks like after loss. Is it possible? What does that relationship look like? I think that's really interesting."
She added: "Obviously, as little kids grow up to be young adults, I'm sure there are a lot of evolutions of powers that could be happening with Dion, so I would be curious to see what he can do next."
Wainwright would also like to see Dion interact more with both of his parents in the next chapter.
"One of my favourite aspects is watching Dion watch his parents," she told TVLine. "I would love to be able to have them have that moment again, just for Dion's sake."
Raising Dion season 2 trailer: When can I watch it?
Not just yet, folks.
But once we know the official air date, we'll have a better idea β trailers usually drop in the month leading up to the premiere.
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Sam is an entertainment writer with NCTJ accreditation and a twenty-year career as a film journalist.
Starting out as a staff writer at Total Film, moving up to Deputy Online Editor, Sam was responsible for Total Filmβs YouTube channel, where he revolutionised the magazineβs approach to video junkets, creating influential formats that spread to other outlets.
Heβs interviewed a wide range of film icons, including directors such as David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Ridley Scott, Michael Bay and Sam Raimi, as well as actors such as Meryl Streep, Nic Cage, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Anne Hathaway, Margot Robbie, Natalie Portman, Kermit the Frog, all of the Avengers and many more.
Sam has also interviewed several comic creators, including Stan Lee, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and he has a zombie cameo in The Walking Dead comic.
In 2014, Sam went freelance, working directly for film studios including Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox and Disney, as well as covering red carpet events for film marketing company PMA Productions.
Sam is the co-host, producer and editor of the Arrow Video podcast, which has seen year-on-year growth since its creation in 2017, gaining over half a million listens in that time.
His byline has appeared in outlets such as Yahoo, MTV, Dazed, Esquire, Harperβs Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Good Housekeeping among others.
In 2012, Sam made it to the final of the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year competition, and went on to become a filmmaker himself, directing three features that have all played major festivals, and secured distribution β starring in two of them.
Jim Carrey once mistook Sam for Johnny Cash, and John Carpenter told him to βKeep up the good work.β He promises to try his best.
