The zombie series ‘Black Summer’ has been renewed by Netflix for a second season. Like the first, the second will be comprised of eight episodes. The series serves as a prequel to the defunct Syfy series ‘Z Nation‘ and is produced by the same production company, The Asylum. (They also made the ‘Sharknado’ movies and other programming for Syfy.) The series was created by Karl Schaefer and John Hyams, both of whom also produced ‘Z Nation’. The pair acted as co-showrunners for Season 1, but Hyams will run Season 2 solo.
Jaime King stars as Rose, a mother who becomes separated from her daughter at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. She also acts as a producer on the series. Also returning from Season 1 are Justin Chu Cary as “Spears,” an escaped convict, and Christine Lee as Kyungsun, a woman who is searching for her mother.
RELATED: Stephen King Praises Netflix’s ‘Black Summer’: “Showrunners Could Learn A Lot From This”
Season 1 received mostly positive reviews, and a total rave reaction from horror master Stephen King, who wrote on Twitter:
“Just when you think there’s no more scare left in zombies, THIS comes along. Existential hell in the suburbs, stripped to the bone… No long, fraught discussions. No endless flashbacks, because there’s no back story. No grouchy teens. Dialogue is spare. Much shot with a single handheld camera, very fluid. Showrunners could learn a lot from this. If they could work, that is.”
Those that reacted favorably to ‘Black Summer’ praise the fact that it’s heavy on action and devoid of the melodrama of such programs as ‘The Walking Dead’. One of the biggest negatives is the fact that the first season looked extremely cheap. (Hopefully, the budget will be increased for the sophomore effort.)
Netflix doesn’t normally release its streaming numbers but it did divulge that ‘Black Summer’ was its #1 show in the U.K.
Production on Season 2 is set to begin sometime in 2020 in Alberta, Canada.
Source: Deadline
