The Hulu Original series, The Great, which was debuted on May 15, will be coming back for second season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The dramedy, loosely based on Cathrine the Great’s rise to power in Russia, finished off its ten-episode first season with solid reviews and soaring viewership. Hulu said that the series was “one of the top performing original comedies on the service,” via Deadline.
The Great, created by Tony McNamara (The Favourite), stars Elle Fanning (Maleficent, All The Bright Places) as Catherine and Nicholas Hoult (Skins) as Peter III. It details the occasionally true story of how Catherine the Great grew from an outsider to the longest-reigning female ruler in Russian history, despite the cruel and loveless relationship with her husband, Peter III. Alongside Fanning and Hoult, the series also features Phoebe Fox (Blue Iguana, Eye In The Sky), Adam Godley (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Umbrella Academy), Gwilym Lee (Jamestown, Bohemian Rhapsody), Charity Wakefield (Sense and Sensibility), Douglas Hodge (Gemini Man, Joker), Sacha Dhawan (Iron Fist, Doctor Who), Sebastian de Souza (Skins, Normal People), Bayo Gbadamosi (War of the Worlds), and Belinda Bromilow (Doctor Doctor, Spirited).
McNamara recalled how his idea for The Great came to be in an interview with Deadline, “I didn’t know much about [Catherine] except that maybe she banged a horse,” referring to the well-known rumor that was circulated about her, “And then I heard something about her keeping the Age of Enlightenment alive. So, I read up on her and she seemed to be an amazing character – really complicated and really modern in a lot of wats, That made me want to write about her, and I thought, well, how do I write about her in a way that would make me want to watch it?”
Fanning had similar thoughts about Catherine, only knowing very little about her, “Like Tony, I knew her for the horse incident. I knew she was Empress of Russia, but through this I learned so much more about what she did and how she truly is a feminist icon. She took down The Man. She did it, and that was just so exciting to me – to show how she became the person she was able to do that. Because, of course, she was born with those qualities inside her, but she had to learn how to use those qualities,” via Deadline.
The cast and their streamer can only hope to receive the same positive reviews for this upcoming season as they did for their debut. Meanwhile, season 1 of The Great is still available to stream on Hulu and the season 1 trailer can be watched below.