The highly anticipated second season of Hunters is finally debuting on Prime Video after nearly three years. Hunters follows Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman), who discovers the Nazi Hunters after his grandmother's murder. Jonah bonds with their leader, Meyer Offerman, and discovers more about the group as he follows in his grandmother's footsteps, helping in their hunt for hidden Nazis. The first season introduced an eclectic group including Holocaust survivors, a former soldier, and an actor.
The first season ends with a devastating reveal when Jonah learns that Meyer has been lying to him and the other Hunters about his identity and that he is in fact The Wolf, a Nazi scientist in hiding. Jonah, enraged and betrayed, kills The Wolf to avenge his grandmother and grandfather. The second season of Hunters explores the ramifications of Jonah's discovery and the revelation that Adolf Hitler is alive.
Screen Rant spoke with Hunters creator David Weil about the final season. Weil explains why he wanted to bring Al Pacino back as The Wolf after his death in the first season. Weil also teases how the Hunters have changed between seasons and Millie's journey as she questions what true justice is in the final season.
David Weil on Hunters Season 2
Screen Rant: Why did you want to explore more of The Wolfe's past? I'm getting some Godfather II vibes from The Wolfe to turning into Meyer. Why did we explore his past in that way?
David Weil: Al Pacino. Two words, Al Pacino. The dream of working with him is greater than anything, and the gift of being able to [makes me] feel so honestly, very lucky. It's very a pinch me moment, every day, getting to work with him. At the end of season one, he and I had many conversations.
I think we both just felt there was unfinished business with this character, and we had such a wonderful time collaborating and exploring creatively together that we in tandem decided to do so again in season two. We concocted this origin story for the Hunters by way of Meyer and to mine the secrets and depths and dimensions within him, and to allow those secrets in the past to collide with Jonah and his story in 1979.
The Hunters were almost fractured in the beginning of season 2. They're all in very different places. What can you tell me about how much they've changed?
David Weil: What a great question. They transform tremendously between seasons, the Hunters. And it's fun. And I think part of the thrill and fun is to have an audience who's two years behind the story, have to catch up and investigate, discover. Wait, what is Lonny doing? Harriet's [an] au pair in the Alps with a bunch of Austrian kids? Like what is going on?
And so what was very exciting was to see who's still hunting Nazis, who's trying to resurrect their burgeoning movie career, who's in Paris painting counterfeit art, making a fortune. And just seeing once the Hunters scattered to the winds after that awful act between seasons, how we try to bring them back together.
I want to talk about Harriet for a second because we get to learn who's on the other side of the phone. What can you tease about who she's working with and how they compare to the Hunters?
David Weil: Totally. Well, on the other end of the phone is a character named Chava, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. And in many ways she's the dark mirror version of our Hunters, almost the inverse of them in certain ways. Her moral compass swings in the opposite direction, and there's a real chameleon-like identity to her where you never quite know who she is or what she's about or what she's going to do next, and it keeps the Hunters on their feet.
Absolutely. Millie goes on a fascinating journey this season as well, gaining understanding of the Hunters. Can you talk about how she handles the dichotomy of FBI justice and vengeful justice?
David Weil: Wow. Look, Millie was our beacon of justice in season one. And in season two what I wanted to do was turn every preconceived notion, every truth on its head. And so with Millie, there's a very important moment in episode one where that sense of justice is challenged in a really big way.
And it primes her I think, to depart from the notion of FBI justice and into this more vigilante justice. And the question really becomes, who's better at getting justice for people? Is it the FBI? Is it our institutions which are very flawed? Or is it actually potentially with the right people taking justice and matters into their own hands?
About Hunters Season 2
A group of Nazi hunters track down and deliver their own brand of justice to those who fled after World War II. Following the betrayal of their leader, who was revealed to be a Nazi in hiding himself, the Hunters are on a final mission to take out their most dangerous target yet, Adolf Hitler.
Check back soon for the rest of our Hunters season 2 interviews here:
Hunters season 2 premieres on Prime Video on January 13.