Dwayne Johnson's sports competition series The Titan Games, which aired its first season last January, is finally coming back for season 2 in May. The hit reality show, hosted by Johnson, focuses on contestants competing in endurance-based challenges in order to achieve the title of Titan. The various challenges are supposedly inspired by Johnson's own workouts. After competing in the Titan arena, the players then go on to face the ultimate obstacle course, called Mount Olympus. Johnson is also an executive producer on the series.
Inspired by American Ninja Warrior, The Titan Games brings in everyday people, giving them the chance to compete in these intense challenges. Featured events include trials like Atlas Smash, in which contestants try to move two concrete balls 25 feet and can use a big hammer to smash the balls and make them lighter. Another activity called Cyclone has competitors racing to knock down five two-story-tall pillars with a 60 lb. wrecking ball. After solid season 1 ratings, the show was renewed for a second season last September.
NBC announced The Titan Games' official release date. Season 2 will premiere on Monday, May 25, 2020, at 8 p.m. ET with a two-hour-long episode. Contestants on the upcoming second season include doctors, veterans, teachers, and other everyday heroes. They will have to compete in the arena and face off against professional athletes, including UFC champion fighters and Olympic medalists, in order to earn the esteemed title of Titan. One man and one woman will end up winning both the title and a prize of $100,000. If a professional athlete wins, their prize money will be donated to charity. None of the professional athletes have been announced yet.
The Titan Games has thankfully been unaffected by the current situation surrounding COVID-19, with all episodes shot before the shutdown. NBC's other hit competition show, American Ninja Warrior, was forced to shut down midway through filming the next season's episodes. Along with producing this show, Johnson has been a producer on most of his own hit movies, including Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and the upcoming DCEU film Black Adam. Though Black Adam was initially scheduled to film early this summer, production has now been pushed back a couple months. Another one of Johnson's upcoming films, Jungle Cruise, was supposed to come out this July, but has been delayed a whole year to July 30, 2021.
Before acting in hit action films, Johnson made his name in professional WWE, where he went by Rocky Maivia, also known as The Rock. His father, Rocky Johnson, was a former professional wrestler, and a great inspiration for Johnson and his career path. He recently passed away in January, and Johnson shared the emotional eulogy he gave at his father's funeral on social media. Having such an intense and personal connection to athletic competition, it's only a surprise that it took Johnson this long to create his own show like The Titan Games. Unique and entertaining, fans are eager for NBC's hit athletic competition show to return next month.
Source: NBC