When it comes to modern reboots of classic stories, few adaptations are as impactful or celebrated asAMC’sInterview with the Vampire. Created byRolin Jonesand based on the novel byAnne Rice, the series' freshman season awed viewers not only with its artful retelling of this classic vampire story but also through its impressive improvement of an already legendary story. Fans have been hungering for a new installment for over a year now, and a full trailer finally dropped this week detailing what we can expect for vampires Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) and Claudia (Delainey Hayles)following that wild Season 1 ending. Although the trailer itself was exciting, teasing out various plots all at once and filled with beautiful yet confusing scenes from the upcoming season, it can be easy to get confused.Let’s break down everything we learned in this new trailerin preparation for the show’s highly anticipated return.
Interview with the Vampire
Based on Anne Rice’s iconic novel, follow Louis de Pointe’s epic story of love, blood and the perils of immortality, as told to the journalist Daniel Molloy.
‘Interview with the Vampire’ Is Poised to Return with a Blood-Soaked Bang for Season 2
When Season 1 ofInterview with the Vampireended, New Orleans-based vampire Louis and his surrogate daughter/sister Claudia had escaped the oppressive clutches of Louis' partner, Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), poisoning him before dumping the vampire in a landfill. Louis' entire recount of the tale is being recorded by famous reporter Daniel (Eric Bogosian), though they take a break whenDaniel realizesLouis' assistant is actually another immortal vampire, Armand (Assad Zaman).
As the Season 2 trailer reveals, the group has resumed the interview, with both vampires now taking center stage and Daniel mocking how codependent their relationship is. Another snippet of the trailer reveals Daniel’s conversation with an unknown man (played byJustin Kirk), where the journalist seems to be lamenting Armand and assuring him that all he wants is to get this story and survive. The man asserts that it’s not Armand he should be worried about — it’s Louis — and warns him to be careful. However, another clip reveals the interviewer has already learned that lesson once, and rather violently, when Daniel was younger and in San Francisco. The vampire violently attacks him after the younger version of the reporter yells,“You don’t understand the meaning of your own story!“No matter how hazardous the interview may be to him in the present-day, however, Daniel is too thirsty of a reporter to let the story of the century slip away.
The Season 2 trailer also reveals that Louis and Claudia have traveled to Paris after leaving Louisianain search of other bloodsucking immortals like themselves (escaping an inexplicable exploding house in the process). They eventually find the Théâtre des Vampires, a troupe of vampires who put on fantastical stage shows where they massacre humans in front of an unknowing audience. The trailer shows that this is where Louis meets Armand, with the two immediately being drawn to each otheras Louis and Claudia join in on their playsas well as the raucous, gory lifestyle the group partakes in. Despite Louis believing they’ve found a new home there, multiple shots in the trailer return to the group’s lead thespian, Santiago (Ben Daniels), who is seemingly unhappy at these new arrivals' decisions to stick around. And he’s not the only one…
Claudia Is a Spark in the Dark in ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Season 2
While Louis' experience inInterview with the VampireSeason 1 was anything but enjoyable, it was his younger companion Claudia who truly experienced how much suffering an unending life can bring. The trailer sees the mature woman trapped in the body of a 14-year-old girl quickly souring at their new home, with a scene that cuts to the present in which Daniel reads her ancient diaries: “Paris sucks. F**k these vampires.”
A major reason for this is Louis finding a new partner; we see herexplode at the man who granted her everlasting lifeand furiously accuse him of picking yet another romantic relationship over her. She longs for the brotherly companionship he’d promised her, though the Season 2 trailer may reveal an answer to her loneliness in the form of a Parisian woman named Madeleine (Roxane Duran). While not much is revealed about her in the trailer, Claudia appears transfixed by the woman, and a later scene finds her and Louis joining together to turn Madeleine into a vampire. Hopefully, this new companion will help Claudia feel happier in their new residence.
As for the absent member of the original trio, Lestat is an ancient vampire, a lover of the arts, and, as the first season established, a complete monster. Yet no matter how frivolously he took the lives of everyone around him or terrorized Claudia, Louis seemingly could not leave the man who turned him into a vampire and gave him the freedom he always longed for. He even engineered their final confrontation so that Lestat could potentially recover and survive, andthe Season 2 trailer shows that Lestat may very well be on the hunt for Louis and Claudia in Paris. Flashes of scenes filled with blood and fire show the vampire inciting the chaos that has become his norm; amid this, it’s clear that Lestat’s long-running feud with Armand will lead to struggles for Louis, yet an intimate scene of him sucking the other vampire’s blood reveals these enemies may have a much more interesting history than anyone could have guessed. With Lestat confirmed to be a significant aspect of this sophomore season, it’s evident that Louis and Claudia’s time in Paris will be much messier than the already embattled pair deserve.
‘Interview with the Vampire’ Season 2 Promises Devastating Honesty
Even with so many scenes involving major plot points from the second season, so much of the trailer still leavesInterview with the Vampire’s main story shrouded in mystery. Why are there many flashes of the Théâtre des Vampires glaring at someone, and will Louis and Claudia be the unfortunate recipients of that anger?What will be the disastrous effects of the new vampiric powers that have been teased— as the trailer showcased Armand’s ability to move things telepathically and control other people’s minds, plus an unknown figure able to wield fire? Perhaps the most devastating mystery of all, what is a sobbing Louis being held back from near the end of the trailer — and does it mean audiences can expect the loss of a character they’ve grown to love?
No matter what,the return of this seriespromises the drama and intrigue that made its initial season so great while adding in a whole new host of iconic performances and terrifyingly bloody messes for Louis and Claudia to (hopefully) overcome.The continuation of the gripping interview at the center of the program will continue, something every watcher is desperate for — but none more than Louis himself, because, as he says tearfully in the trailer’s final moments, “I want this. To remember.”
Interview with the Vampireis available to stream on AMC+ in the U.S. Season 2 is set to premiere May 12 on AMC.
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