Kyle Patrick Alvarez has been tapped to direct and executive produce the second season of Amazon’s Homecoming. Actor Stephan James will reprise his role as Walter Cruz from last season alongside Hong Chau as Audrey Temple. Songstress Janelle Monáe will also join the cast, as Julia Robert’s one-year deal with the series ends.
Monáe’s character has been described as being a key player in the mystery surrounding Season 2, with the singer/actress playing an amnesiac woman who finds herself drifting along a river in a canoe with no memory of why she is there. Actors Bobby Cannavale and Shea Whigham have also been rumored to be returning as well.
Created by the mastermind behind Mr. Robot, Sam Esmail, the psychological thriller’s upcoming Season 2’s episodes will be solely directed by Alvarez who is taking the reigns from Esmail. At the start of the upcoming season, Homecoming is set to “deviate from the popular Gimlet Media’s podcast which Season 1 was based on and will introduce new characters.”
“We’re so lucky to have Kyle Alvarez on board to direct Season Two — his enthusiasm and relentless creativity are already taking the show in exciting new directions,” mentioned co-creators Micah Bloomberg and Eli Horowitz. “And we’re thrilled that Stephan and Hong will be returning — we can’t wait to watch as they take their characters on these surprising journeys, far beyond anything we could have expected.”
Alvarez’s other work includes the two feature films: The Stanford Prison Experiment which starred Billy Crudup and Ezra Miller and his film C.O.G. The former premiering at the 2015 Sundance festival where it won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, while the former premiered there in 2013. His television credits include work on: Counterpart, 13 Reasons Why, and the finale episode of the new Tales of the City revival.
Horowitz and Bloomberg act as co-producers for the show in partnership with Amazon Studios and Universal Content Productions. The series is also executive produced by Esmail through his banner Esmail Corp alongside Chad Hamilton of Anonymous Content; Horowitz and Bloomberg; Alvarez; and Chris Giliberti, Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber of Gimlet Media. Roberts will also still serve as an executive producer through her company Red Om Films.