It’s been nearly two years since Severance premiered on Apple TV+, and after a brief production hiatus due to the Hollywood strikes last year, Ben Stiller has finally given fans a sign that season 2 is coming.
“We are working on it. 🫡,” Stiller, 58, a director and executive producer on the series, wrote on X on Tuesday, January 2nd in response to a fan’s post that read, “Give us a sign @BenStiller.”
Severance follows a group of employees at the fictional corporation Lumon Industries — led by Mark Scout (Adam Scott) — who opt to undergo a “severance” procedure, surgically separating their memories of work from their memories of their personal lives. The series also stars Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry and Tramell Tillman.
The Apple TV+ series was picked up for a second season ahead of the season 1 finale in April 2022. “It’s really exciting to see the response from people who are loving the show — and the level of fan engagement,” Stiller said in an Apple TV+ statement at the time. “It has been a long road bringing ‘Severance’ to television. I first read Dan’s pilot over five years ago. It has always been a multi-season story, and I’m really happy we get to continue it. I’m grateful to our partners at Apple TV+ who have been behind it the whole way. Praise Keir!”
Production for season 2 began in October 2022 but was interrupted by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of summer 2023, which prevented actors and writers from working on the show.
Apple TV’s official account posted a still and a clip from season 1 of Severance on X on Tuesday, January 2, prompting fans to question if they would ever see season 2.
“I’ve resolved to the fact that Severance is dead. Never to be seen again. One season. That’s it. And it’s sad,” one user wrote on X. Another user added, “Please bring back Severance! I need closure.”
Stiller’s positive “sign” for the future of Severance was met with a flood of excitement from fans in the comments. While Stiller didn’t provide any specifics on how production is going or when the new season will premiere, fans are optimistic.
“We’re excited to go deeper into this wholly unique world and unpack more layers of Lumon in season two,” Matt Cherniss, the head of programming for Apple TV+, said in the April 2022 statement. Severance creator Dan Erickson also revealed that season 2 will explore more of the outside characters’ backstories.
“In season two, we’re going to be showing all of these people on the outside,” Erickson told Entertainment Weekly in April 2022. “Being able to take what Adam did in the first season — with the differentiation between his Innie and Outie, and how they feel like the same person but with this vastly different lived experience — seeing the other three characters’ version of that dichotomy is, I think, the most exciting part.”
