Yellowjackets officially renewed for season 2 at Showtime

Good news for fans of Showtime’s break-out survival thriller series Yellowjackets, the series has received an early renewal! Featuring an all-star female cast, Yellowjackets has become an immediate sensation for the premium cable channel, scoring more than four million viewers to date, per Deadline.

The renewal news is especially exciting since Yellowjackets is just five episodes into its freshman run so far. Earning another season before the first one has even wrapped is a confident sign for the series’ future.

Showtime made a great decision holding the show to air alongside Dexter: New Blood, which was all but guaranteed to become a hit given the popularity of the original eight seasons. I’m sure Dexter helped people discover Yellowjackets, and now word-of-mouth has elevated this excellent show to new heights.

It’s also great to see a cast with so many exceptional female actresses receiving so much acclaim, including a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Showtime’s President of Entertainment Gary Levine had nothing but kind words to say about the break-out success while chatting with Deadline, calling it “an unadulterated sensation.” Levine also noted that they conscientiously decided to pair the series with the Dexter revival, and that choice has obviously paid off.

"“It’s done extremely well in terms of streaming subscriptions. It was our second biggest series debut ever on streaming, and it’s grown each week on streaming by double digit percentages. In terms of acclaim, in terms of buzz – no pun intended — and in terms of hard numbers, this show has just exploded. For it to be embraced as quickly and as deeply as it was by both audiences and critics alike, that’s a little like catching lightning in a bottle — you can never anticipate that but boy, it’s awfully sweet when it rarely happens.”"

Yellowjackets season 2 release date

Since the finale of the first season won’t premiere until January, we likely won’t see season 2 premiere until late 2022 or even early 2023 at the earliest. I’m sure the first season is going to end with a cliffhanger so the wait will probably be agonizing, but knowing we won’t have to stress about cancellation will make it better!

New episodes of Yellowjackets air Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET on Showtime.