'The Serpent Queen' Is Back With Big Casting Changes for Season 2

Catherine De Medici's (Samantha Morton) reign over France will continue now that the modern, darkly comedic The Serpent Queen has returned for its second season.

In Season 2, the ruthless, charming and savvy queen's son on is on the throne and she serves as one of his advisors.

"Then the question is: What’s the price of survival?" show runner Justin Haythe said at the STARZ Television Critics Association press tour panel for the series. "I think you’re beginning to see it in the children. If you have to do all these things to survive, if you live in a world where there is no meritocracy, where power is only born, there’s no being good or being smart to win, in order to survive you have to really sell a lot of your morality down the river, and what’s the cost personally?

Here, what we know about chapter two:

When will Season 2 of The Serpent Queen premiere?

The series was renewed for Season 2 back in October of 2022 and premiered July 12.

Is there a trailer for The Serpent Queen Season 2?

The second trailer for The Serpent Queen features Samantha Morton returning as the nefarious Queen Mother Catherine de Medici, who is joined by Minnie Driver as Queen Elizabeth I. As France falls into political and religious turmoil, Catherine struggles to maintain her power, but the Serpent Queen will do whatever she needs to regain control.

The first trailer for The Serpent Queen Season 2 provides a first look at the second season of the historical drama, revealing that Catherine is willing to do anything to maintain her power. It also includes a shot of the debut of Minnie Driver as the infamous ‘Virgin Queen’ Elizabeth I who rivals Catherine in court in the delightfully wicked upcoming season.

What is the story of The Serpent Queen?

Based on the book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda, it’s the story of Catherine de Medici who, against all odds, became one of the most powerful and longest-serving rulers in French history.

Related: Samantha Morton On How Brains Won Over Beauty for Catherine de Medici in The Serpent Queen

Who is in The Serpent Queen Season 2 cast?

Samantha Morton as Catherine de Medici

"I feel so kind of in awe of Catherine, and so honored to play her," Morton told Town & Country. “As well as a huge responsibility to give her authenticity the best I could. When you contemporize the drama, that's when you’re allowing these characters to tell their stories. If you’re going to break the fourth wall, you have to make sure you’re not doing it just for effect. Catherine really is seeing the audience as a confidant, she’s saying, ‘this is real, can you believe it?’ There are certain streaming channels that do make chocolate-box costume dramas, but you never feel that you are in it because it feels so fake. Everything might look great, but you don't feel anything. That's the trick: the truth of the story has to come first."

Returning cast members include:

Danny Kirrane as Louise De Bourbon

Ray Panthaki as Charles Guise

Raza Jaffrey as Fran?ois de Guise

Enzo Cilenti as Ruggieri

Amrita Acharia as Aabis

Ruby Bentall as Angelica

Beth Goddard as Antoinette Guise

Ludivine Sagnier as Diane de Poitier

Rupert Everett as Charles V

Who will be joining the cast of The Serpent Queen for Season 2?

Per Variety, The Serpent Queen Season 2 has added 10 new cast members.

Minnie Driver as Elizabeth I

Minnie Driver joins as “Elizabeth I” the infamous ‘Virgin Queen.’ Elizabeth goes toe-to-toe with Catherine and is a woman of style, wit and experience.

"It was an honor to play Queen Elizabeth I but also, this amazing imagining of a meeting between Elizabeth and Catherine de Medici," Driver said at the STARZ Television Critics Association press tour panel for the series. "From what Justin wrote, the Elizabeth that I felt was this witty, wily, slightly feral queen. And I hadn't seen that before in all the books that I've read or the pictures that I've seen and how I'd imagined her since I was a child learning about her in school. I felt like I could feel who the woman was behind the Queen, and I was very interested in her and who she is.

"And Samantha said earlier, which is really true, these are two businesswomen. These are two businesspeople who meet, and there is no one else like them in the world at that time. They are recognizing each other as these two women who are the regents of their respective countries. So, it was immensely interesting, because I think they are very different characters. And that's Justin who created that template and then we stepped into this sort of new version of a universe that he created."

Angus Imrie as Henry IV

Angus Imrie joins as “Henry IV” the son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d’Albret, he appears uncivilized, to the unobservant observer but in reality, he is quite an intellect.

Emma McDonald as Rahima

Emma McDonald joins as “Rahima” who viewers first met in season one. Rahima has grown in wit and confidence and now has assumed an important position in Catherine’s life.

Stanley Morgan as Anjou

Stanley Morgan joins as “Anjou” the younger brother of King Charles, who is non-conforming and capable of disruptive violence.

Philippine Velge as Margo

Philippine Velge joins as “Margot” Catherine’s eldest daughter, who is her polar opposite. Incredibly charming, liked by all and seeks the truth.

Rosalie Craig as Jeanne d'Albret

Rosalie Craig joins as “Jeanne d’Albret” the self-righteous and disapproving wife of Antonie de Bourbon.

Isobel Jesper Jones as Edith

Isobel Jesper Jones joins as “Edith,” a protestant preacher to a group of loyal followers.

Bill Milner as King Charles IX

Bill Milner joins as “King Charles IX” the oldest son of Catherine de Medici, and the now King of France. Not a boy, but not quite a man, he is anxious to play king and get it right.

Ashley Thomas as Alessandro de Medici

Ashley Thomas joins as “Alessandro de Medici” a man possessed with great charisma and beauty and is the object of desire.

Alexandre Willaume as Montmorency

Alexandre Willaume joins as “Montmorency” the wise and humorless Constable General of France. He is a loyal and serious servant of the king.

Related: The Serpent Queen Creators Share Everything We Need to Know About Season One, and the Status for Season Two

What happened in Season 1 of The Serpent Queen?

Season 1 of The Serpent Queen begins with Catherine’s arrival in France, her marriage to the prince, and the deaths of her father-in-law the king, her husband and her son. The series also covered how difficult it was for Catherine to initially get pregnant—it took her 10 years, but in the end, she gave birth to 10 children, of whom four boys and three girls survived.

So, the finale was about her consolidating power. Charles IX, who is only 9 years old, is crowned king with Catherine as regent, and Mary was tricked by Catherine into returning to Scotland, where she’s fuming over Catherine’s win.

Are there any spoilers for Season 2 of The Serpent Queen?

Haythe told Indiewire, “I’ve got a lot of very specific ideas about where I want Season 2 to go. I wanted to start with what I think was Catherine’s real ambition to try to modernize France. She built the Tuileries. She brought a lot of artists to France. She tried to introduce religious tolerance and somehow got from there to the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and that’s an interesting arc.”

Another high point of Season 2 will be the meeting of Queen Elizabeth 1 and Catherine de Medici. The two women never met in real life -- as far as historians know, but rather wrote letters. But operating under the premise of never let the truth stand in the way of a good story, Haythe brings the two iconoclastic women together.

"We had a principle where if you could prove it happened, we were obliged to it," Haythe said at TCA. "I didn’t want to create a world where you weren’t frightened for the characters. And I think if you’re too anachronistic or too flippant, you don’t worry about them, and you need to worry that Catherine is in a fight for survival. At the same time, if you can’t prove it didn’t happen, we can do it. So Elizabeth and Catherine, there’s no substantiated meeting historically, but nobody can prove they didn’t do it off the books. And you know the history, I’m sure, better than me, but this was such an absurd group of people and such an absurd time, anything that I could invent is not as weird as what they were doing. "

How many episodes will there be of Season 2 of The Serpent Queen?

The second season will consist of eight episodes.

Where can I Watch The Serpent Queen Season 2?

The Serpent Queen will air exclusively on STARZ and the STARZ app when Season 2 premieres. Season 1 can currently be seen on STARZ On Demand and the app.

Where was The Serpent Queen Season 2 filmed?

"We shot primarily in Chateaux de Chambord, which is 490 rooms, that was built by a man who spent two nights there because he didn’t like it," Haythe said. "It was his hunting lodge. I mean, this is decadence."

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