'The New Pope' Behind-The-Scenes Featurette Reminds You That The HBO Sequel Series Is Streaming Now

It's been a while since HBO debuted The Young Pope in 2016. But it's also been a while since HBO debuted the limited series The New Pope, Paolo Sorrentino's follow-up season to his outrageous papacy drama. So why are we talking about The New Pope again, four months after the series premiered on HBO in January this year? You may have missed the series amid the growing anxiety around the spreading coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

But now that we're all stuck at home for the foreseeable future, Warner Bros. and HBO are intent on reminding you that The New Pope is one of the many titles available to stream now that could relieve you of your boredom. And that reminder comes in the form of a handy The New Pope behind-the-scenes clip, which introduces the many characters — Pope or otherwise — in the limited series.

There are so many Popes in pop culture right now that it's hard to keep count. But HBO's new behind-the-scenes clip for The New Pope can help clear things up, just a little. Jude Law returns as  a chain-smoking, speedo-wearing Pope who shakes up the Catholic institution in follow-up limited series The New Pope. John Malkovich steps in as the titular pope when Law's Pope Pius XIII falls into a coma. But when a miracle happens, The New Pope suddenly has too many popes, and too many characters, to keep track of.

The second season, which follows the 10-episode limited series that aired on HBO in 2016, is penned by The Young Pope's Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello, and Stefano Bises and features Sharon Stone and Marilyn Manson as guest stars, joining the original cast members of Henry Goodman, Ulrich Thomsen, Mark Ivanir, Yuliya Snigir, and Massimo Ghini.

The New Pope is currently available to stream on HBO Go.

The New Pope picks up where The Young Pope left off, with Jude Law's Lenny Belardo, known as Pope Pius XIII, in a coma. Following an unpredictable and mysterious turn of events, Secretary of State Voiello (Silvio Orlando) succeeds in having Sir John Brannox (John Malkovich), a charming and sophisticated moderate English aristocrat, placed on the papal throne, adopting the name John Paul III. The new pope seems ideal, but he conceals secrets and has a certain fragility, and Voiello immediately understands that it will not be easy to replace the charismatic Pius XIII. Hanging between life and death, Lenny Belardo has become a Saint, with thousands now idolizing him, fueling the contrast between fundamentalisms. Meanwhile, the Church is under attack from external threats and scandals striking the symbols of Christianity and risking irreversibly devastating the hierarchies. As always, however, in the Vatican, nothing is what it seems. Good and evil proceed arm-in-arm towards history, and to reach the showdown, we must wait for the events to take their course.