Weekly Wrap-Up
August 26 2023

Folx, it finally came. The drought is over. We have official confirmation that season two will be premiering sometime in October, and Vanity Fair gave us photos and an in-depth article! Let’s just get right into that – because omg – and then we can explore the rest of the week’s news!

For those strictly abstaining from all S2 news, we will put all this under an accordion. Spoiler-free announcements will follow below.

⚠️ Actual, Real S2 Spoilers! ⚠️

So here they are. Drink it all in. Eight whole new images from S2 (plus official confirmation of an October premiere!). We have uploaded hi-res and logo-free versions of these promo stills in our gallery!

We then got an accompanying article from Vanity Fair with various interviews and tidbits! And we were pleased to see Max’s main account promoting the article, though not in actual post form, and only on Instagram:

Let’s dive into all the information the Vanity Fair article gives us:

  • The article writer was on-set on December 8, three days before filming ended
  • Crew:
    • Fernando Frias directed three episodes (in S1 he directed eps 5, 6, and 7), and he is very confident we will enjoy S2
    • Executive producer Garrett Basch (returning from S1) says S2 will be both “unexpected and surprising” and “pleasurable and satisfying”
    • Executive producer Antoine Douaihy says S2 will be different “in terms of the scope and the scale”
    • Gypsy Taylor is costume designer (unclear if Christine Wada is not returning)
    • Nancy Hennah is confirmed returning for hair & makeup
    • Antoine Douaihy is joining as executive producer
  • New cast:
    • Minnie Driver(!) is joining the cast as Anne Bonny (historically the partner of Calico Jack, btw)
    • Ruibo Qian’s character is “mysterious merchant Susan”
    • Leslie Jones is returning as Spanish Jackie, which we already figured from several leaks (from Leslie, mostly)
    • Neither Madeleine Sami’s nor Anapela Polataivao’s characters have been named
  • Sets:
    • There are “around 50 sets” in S2, including
      • A “30-acre forest” behind the studio
      • Piha Beach
      • Te Henga (Bethells Beach)
      • A “floating market”
      • Republic of Pirates
    • The Revenge set was “carefully transported” from Los Angeles to New Zealand
    • There’s “a whole other pirate ship”
  • Props:
    • Props were taken away to storage after filming, which indicates optimism for a S3…
    • “…vases, plates, antique furniture, and piles of mannequins replicating dead bodies which were used in one of the battle scenes.”
  • Costumes:
    • David Jenkins wanted a “cool rock-and-roll vibe” so it’s “Mad Max, Streets of New York feel” but “with an 18th-century twist”
    • Every main character has “six to eight looks”
    • There is a mermaid tail… 👀
    • Wee John has started knitting, and is wearing a hand-knit sweater on set that day
    • Blackbeard’s wig was made in London
    • Ed has 14 tattoos on his right arm and 10 on the left, “plus plenty of scars”
    • “Taika wanted most of the tattoos to look like he’d done them himself. Like on slow days on the boat when there’s nothing much to do, they sit around and give each other tattoos.”
  • Plot:
    • Con says S2 “doesn’t follow the expected route”
    • There are two armies: “150 Chinese pirates and a fleet of 100 navy officers”
    • At one point someone is “caught in a storm on the back of the boat” and it “caused havoc with things like tattoos and hair, wigs and beards”
    • Con’s scenes have been “frantic” and required “physical endurance”
    • Izzy “goes on a remarkable journey” and “understands what love is and whom he’s in love with”
    • S2 goes further in exploring tones of darkness and sweetness
    • Con may have confirmed Izzy losing his foot: “Sometimes […] you have to take your foot out of the tragedy – literally, your foot – and put it back into the comedy.”
    • Con says the cast have “built trust” with David Jenkins “to follow some bigger swings” and that S2 “does stick to the original premise that we created in season one, which is take it on to other levels.”
    • Vico says that Jim “really evolves” in S2, that they’re “a bit more chatty and a bit more conversational” with “bit more zaniness and a bit more softness” rather than hiding in disguise
    • On the day of the interviews, December 8, there was “a major romantic moment between two key characters” (Vico tweeted about breath mints on December 8 – and November 28 – so… TealOranges moment?)

We also got hints that more promo is yet to come. We’re so excited to see crew members stepping up in place of striking cast and writers to get people hyped for the new season.

There were tons of articles covering the “first look”:

So yeah. It’s coming, you guys (/gn). :’)

Now let’s get back to our usual wrap-up format. The remainder of this post will be spoiler-free.

August 16

Aotearoa New Zealand’s Sky Network Television issued a press release stating that OFMD S2 will be aired on its new channel “Sky Open” (which is replacing “Prime”). It’s unclear whether Sky Open will be replacing Neon as the official AoNZ streamer of OFMD. But Sky did confirm that it would be airing in AoNZ “later this year” which might mean the US and AoNZ have the same premiere schedule!

August 21

An alarming discovery for many…

August 22

The Max accounts began to make preparations…

August 23

Samba teased us something was coming…

August 24

And then… it happened. IT HAPPENED!

We also got the announcement from Max’s Latine account! And Max’s main Instagram account also posted a story about it, with an image from Vanity Fair (see under accordion above).

Other Stuff:

  • August 13: OFMD writer Simone Nathan got engaged to comedian Paul Williams!
  • August 13: A Twitter user visited the National Maritime Museum Cornwall and saw OFMD in one of their displays!
  • August 14: A lucky fan got their cosplay approved by David Fane!
  • August 14: The trailer for “Uproar” featuring Rhys (and a couple other S2 folks 👀) came out!
  • August 15: A Twitter user is running a Frenchie love weekend September 30-October 1!
  • August 16: Taika celebrated his 48th birthday! 🥳
  • August 16: OFMD made Collider’s list of best comedy Max shows!
  • August 17: Con posted a preview of him in costume for the upcoming BBC WW2 drama “SAS Rogue Heroes”.
  • August 17: Samba was out picketing!
  • August 18: A Twitter user translated an interview Samba did in Dutch about the strikes and OFMD.
  • August 18: NZR+ released the trailer for Taika’s new show “Tour de Rugby.”
  • August 18: Gamers, Rhys is back with a live play-through of Assassins Creed 2!
  • August 18: Simone Kessell (Mother Teach) celebrated her 48th birthday, too! 🥳
  • August 19: A Twitter user found that OFMD has the highest percentage of explicit fics on AO3.
  • August 20: A Twitter user is running “OFMD Love Month” for September, here are the prompts!
  • August 20: Max’s Spanish account tweeted about OFMD.
  • August 21: We learned that 2023 is Rhys’ 25th anniversary doing comedy!
  • August 21: Max’s Portuguese account tweeted about OFMD, and we responded…
  • August 21: Vulture included OFMD in their list of shows to watch this fall!
  • August 22: Leslie announced that Chris Rock has done the forward for her new memoir, out September.
  • August 23: If you want to support the OFMD crew striking with snacks and drinks, the PayPal link to donate has been updated.
  • August 23: Nathan celebrated his 10th anniversary with his partner!
  • August 23: Rhys is returning as the voice of Nigel in a new Jumanji game!
  • August 24: Max’s Portuguese account made what might be the last post about OFMD S1. :’)
  • August 24: “The Gentleman Pirate’s Library” has made a podcast episode about S2 news!
  • August 25: A Twitter user is running Izzy Microfic Day on September 1.
  • August 25: Listen to Vico on “Date My Abuelita, First”!

Thanks as always for following along. Keep your eyes on our blog over the next 6 weeks as we lead up to the premier of S2 (omg)! Until then, be excellent to each other.
– @OFMDCrew

S2 Spoilers, Weekly Wrap-Up