Yellowjackets season 2: how to watch, trailer, cast and everything you need to know

Yellowjackets season 2 has now aired.

If you're not familiar with it, Yellowjackets is a Paramount Plus exclusive series that debuted in late 2021 that focuses on an American high school girls' soccer team. The team chartered a plane to compete in the nationals; during the crash, their plane crashes down in a remote area of the Canadian wilderness. 

The show then follows the girls as they do whatever it takes to survive in 1996. It also follows some of the survivors in the present day as they're reluctantly drawn back together after they each receive cryptic messages suggesting someone knows what really happened during their time in the woods.

The first season finale left us with our jaws on the floor, and the second was full of just as many surprises. Read on for essential info about the show's second series. 

Yellowjackets season 2 release date: How to watch Yellowjackets 

Yellowjackets returned for its second season on Friday, March 24, 2023, with an on-demand premiere on Paramount Plus to any subscribers of the network on that date; the first episode subsequently aired on Showtime on Sunday, March 26 at 9 pm ET/PT.

Originally, we speculated that the series might debut at a later date in the UK, but the series also started streaming on Paramount Plus in the UK on the same day.

The full series is now available to stream in both regions.

Yellowjackets season 2 cast

The majority of season 1's surviving cast — including leads Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis and Tawny Cypress as Misty, Shauna, Natalie and Taissa (respectively), and Samantha Hanratty, Sophie Nélisse, Sophie Thatcher and Jasmin Savoy Brown as their teen selves — returned for the first season, along with Warren Kole as Shauna's husband, Jeff, too.

There were also some new additions to the cast in the second season. Lord of the Rings frontman, Elijah Wood played Walter, a "dedicated Citizen Detective who will challenge Misty in ways she won't see coming."

Additionally, Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under, Servant) is on board as the adult version of Van, who we hadn't seen in the show up until now. Liv Hewson, who plays Van's teenage counterpart, was bumped up to a series regular for the new season, too.

Simone Kessell (Obi-Wan Kenobi) also joined the show as the adult version of Lottie Matthews. Like Liv Hewson, Courtney Eaton (who plays the teen version of the character in 1996) was promoted to a series regular to accommodate her expanded role.

What's the plot of Yellowjackets season 2? 

The synopsis for Yellowjackets season 2 reads: "In season two, two months have passed since Shauna gave Jackie the cold shoulder— to disastrous results. In the face of their deepening hunger and fear, the tension among our Yellowjackets has only grown worse. The harsh conditions of winter are intensifying by the day, and the psyches of our survivors are deteriorating just as fast. 

"Threatened by the darkness of the wilderness— and the haunting memories of it in the present— our former state champs will be forced to make impossible decisions. As they confront the horrible truth of what survival entails, the real nightmare for each of them will be to figure out who they are— and what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive."

Is there a Yellowjackets season 2 trailer?

The new trailer shows the girls trying to fend for themselves in the cold winter wilderness, and it looks like we'll be seeing them descend to new lows in order to survive. Meanwhile, it looks like the survivors in the present aren't exactly going to get an easy ride, either. Give it a watch below:

On January 13, we finally laid eyes on the first trailer from Yellowjackets second season. In it, we see an adult Lottie Matthews instructing Nat to cast her mind back to the crash and revisit it. Check the teaser out here: