Good Omens season 2 will be treading fresh ground as Crowley and Aziraphale embark on an entirely new story; season 1 already showed how that can work. Good Omens’ first season plot followed the demon Crowley (David Tennant) and the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and they teamed up to ensure that the Antichrist did not bring about Armageddon so that they could continue to enjoy their lives on Earth. The second season’s plot has yet to be announced in detail, but Gaiman has suggested that it will be a mystery involving the angels and will focus on Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship.
The first season was based on the book of the same name by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. However, that first season told the entirety of the Good Omens narrative from start to finish and while a sequel book was planned as far back as 1989, it was never written. Terry Pratchett passed away in 2015 before the TV show was made, so his mark on the show came from the book itself and Gaiman working to honor his legacy. When the first season concluded, Gaiman and Rhianna Pratchett, Pratchett's daughter, were quick to shut down suggestions that there might be a second season, making it clear that it was a limited run. Without concrete source material and with Terry Pratchett no longer here, the question is, can a second season recapture the magic of the first?
However, the Good Omens team already proved that it could bring new content into this universe and maintain the right feel for the series. While season 1 was for the most part very true to the book, there were a few additions and changes to help it work for television. One notable addition to the TV show was Good Omen's cast of angels who are only mentioned in passing in the book. As a part of the show, Archangel Michael (Jon Hamm) was able to raise the stakes for the lead duo while adding another dimension to the story without losing the Good Omens feeling. However, the single biggest addition was the full first half of episode 3, “Hard Times.” This section fleshed out the backstory of Crowley and Aziraphale across the millennia, helped to develop their relationship on an emotional level, and quickly became a fan-favorite chapter.
The facts already revealed about Good Omens season 2 suggest the creative team recognizes those strengths and are eager to play into them. Michael Sheen and David Tennant’s on-screen relationship has helped to sell the show, and the two have continued working together since the first season by appearing in two seasons of Staged. Continuing the Good Omens adaptation by focusing the second season on their relationship promises to repeat the success from episode 3 while centering the mystery around the angels ensures it can continue to bring in fresh elements without the need for a second book to draw from.
While Gaiman and Pratchett’s working and personal relationship will likely help Gaiman to continue to honor Pratchett’s work and voice by including elements inspired by him, there will still probably be some tonal shift. The authors spoke about their experience with co-writing and suggested that they largely could not remember who wrote which pieces, but that Gaiman wrote more of The Four Horsemen and Pratchett wrote more of the Antichrist and his gang. By moving the focus for Good Omens season 2 to angelic mysteries and away from child gangs led by the Antichrist, the show will continue to keep things in Neil Gaiman’s wheelhouse while memorializing Terry Pratchett’s contributions.