'Homecoming' Season 2 Will Star Janelle Monáe
Julia Roberts left Amazon's Homecoming after season 1, which meant the series needed a new lead. And now it's found one in Janelle Monáe. The singer and actress will play a woman with memory loss – which is also the fate that befell Roberts's character in season 1. The paranoia-tinged Amazon series is inspired by the podcast of the same name, but you can expect season 2 to stray from the source material considerably.
TV Line reports that Homecoming season 2 will star Janelle Monáe. Monáe plays "a tenacious woman who finds herself floating in a canoe, with no memory of how she got there — or even who she is." Season 1 star Julia Roberts remains an executive producer on the series, but only ever intended to star in one season and not return for more. In season 1, Roberts played a social worker turned waitress who also has come down with an extreme case of memory loss. Roberts's character's memory loss had to do with the shadowy Homecoming Transitional Support Center where she worked, which was owned by the even more shadowy Geist Group. I'm guessing Monáe's character's amnesia will have something to do with them as well.
Season 1 featured a mostly self-contained story, so it's not clear if season 2 will be bringing back characters, or if it will take on an anthology format and tell a completely new tale with new characters. The show is adapted from a podcast of the same name, but season 1 diverted from the source material the more it went along, and season 2 is expected to divert even more.
Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail directed the entire first season, but he won't be directing season 2 – which is a bit of a bummer since his direction on season 1 was part of what made the show so incredible. While I would've loved to see Roberts and Esmail come back, putting Janelle Monáe in the lead role is one hell of a smart move – the artist has quickly distinguished herself as a fantastic actress, and I'm all for her appearing even in more projects.Homecoming season 2 is set to begin production later this summer. It will arrive on Amazon sometime in 2020.