Yellowjackets showrunners Ashley Lyle, Jonathan Lisco, and Bart Nickerson sit down to address seven fan theories and questions ahead of season 2. The Showtime drama series stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis, and Christina Ricci as the survivors of a horrific 1996 plane crash, who are forced to grapple with their ordeal in the present day. The series was critically acclaimed, with a second season being commissioned in fall 2021.
In Yellowjackets, Lynskey, Cypress, Lewis, and Ricci portray Shauna, Taissa, Natalie, and Misty, the adult survivors of a 1996 plane crash that left their New Jersey high-school soccer team stranded in the Canadian wilderness for nineteen months. The story intercuts between their present-day selves and their younger counterparts (portrayed by Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, and Sammi Hanratty). The former teammates are forced to face their past when it threatens to come to light. With Yellowjackets season 2 set to explore the winter storyline that the first season hinted towards in its season finale, the showrunners have addressed several pieces of fan speculation ahead of the upcoming season.
In an interview hosted by Variety, Lyle, Lisco, and Nickerson discussed fan speculation surrounding future seasons. The showrunners revealed that not only would previously unseen survivors appear in Yellowjackets season 2, but that Purnell may return in some form despite Jackie's fate. Lyle also confirmed that mysterious figures, such as the cabin's original owner and the Man with No Eyes, would be addressed. What's more, Yellowjackets season 2 will address the meaning of the recurring symbol, which many theorize relates to cannibalism. Finally, the showrunners confirmed that the series plays with the uncertainty around whether the supernatural is real to explore its characters while stating Allie's (Tonya Cornellisse) presence at the reunion was due to her inserting herself into the group's story. See their full interview below:
The showrunners addressed the fate of Shauna's baby in the same interview, suggesting that the series would explain why the child isn't present in the modern-day storyline. Across the first season's 1996 storyline, it is gradually revealed that Shauna was pregnant with the child of Jackie's boyfriend, Jeff (portrayed in the flashback by Jack Depew), after the pair had an affair prior to the crash. Despite Shauna being married to Jeff (portrayed by Warren Cole in the present day), with a daughter named Callie (Sarah Desjardins), Callie is too young to be the child Shauna had in the wilderness, as she was born in 2004. While they indicated the child's fate would be addressed, the showrunners remained quiet on the details to avoid spoiling any surprises for audiences.
Yellowjacket's overall mystery of what happened over the team's nineteen-month ordeal inspired much speculation, as well as how it affected their present lives. The showrunners recently addressed the debunked fan theory that Adam (Peter Gadiot) was actually Javi (Luciano Leroux) having come back to torment the cast, suggesting that it was once a possible twist considered in the stories' earlier development. With much of the series' events during the 1996 storyline remaining a mystery into the second season, the showrunner's comments are sure to be welcomed by fans who enjoy constructing theories, as it helps narrow down points of interest that the future of the show would address, giving them areas to focus possible future theories on.
Source: Variety