- Releasing in mid-December
- Comprises eight episodes
- Trailers unveiled in August and November
- Main cast members set to return
- Other actors confirmed to have joined the cast
- Will pick up after last season's finale
- The city of New Vegas will be a key location
- Season 3 already in the works
Fallout season 2 is ready to emerge from its underground bunker. The hugely popular Prime Video show will be back on our screens on December 17, so there's no time like the present to get the lowdown on it.
Full spoilers follow for Fallout season 1. Possible season 2 spoilers are also discussed, so proceed at your own risk.
Fallout season 2 release date
Fallout season 2 will premiere on December 17. Amazon had confirmed a surprise December 2025 launch for Fallout's next chapter earlier this year, so we always knew it arrive before the end of the year.
Unlike its forebear, season 2 will air with a one-episode premiere. After launch day, new episodes of one of the best Prime Video shows will drop weekly until the finale arrives on February 6, 2026.
Fallout season 2 trailer
Amazon unveiled the first trailer for Fallout season 2 in August.
I won't cover everything that's shown for spoiler reasons. However, it reveals who's playing New Vegas' overlord Mr. House (more on him later), gives us our first-look at the Fallout game franchise's deadly Deathclaws, flashbacks of Cooper Howard visiting New Vegas at the height of its glory, Lucy and The Ghoul working together, and Hank stumbling on what appears to be an underground Vault-Tec HQ.
Three months later, Amazon unveiled the official trailer for Fallout season 2, which revealed even more new footage. Highlights from said teaser included confirmation that Macaulay Culkin is part of its cast – and, surprisingly, so is Kumail Nanjiani – as well as Lucy's brother Norm, who clearly escaped Vault 31, leading the rest of Vault 33 on an above ground excursion.
If that wasn't enough footage to whet your appetite for the series' return, check out the first official clip of Lucy and The Ghoul in the iconic location known as Novac:
Fallout season 2 confirmed cast
Here's Fallout season 2's confirmed cast:
- Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean
- Aaron Moten as Maximus
- Walton Goggins as The Ghoul/Cooper Howard
- Kyle MacLachlan as Hank MacLean
- Moisés Arias as Norm MacLean
- Frances Turner as Barb Howard
- Xelia Mendes-Jones as Dane
- Justin Theroux as Robert House
- Teagen Meredith as Janey Howard
- Leslie Uggams as Betty Pearson
- Zach Cherry as Woody Thomas
- Annabel O'Hagan as Stephanie Harper
- Dave Register as Chet
- Johnny Pemberton as Thaddeus
- Leer Leary as Davey
- Michael Cristofer as Elder Cleric Quintus
- Jon Daly as the Snake Oils Salesman
- Macaulay Culkin as TBC
- Kumail Nanjiani as TBC
The first six cast members were confirmed to be back for more Wasteland adventures via Fallout season 2's first-look images. Meanwhile, the vast last season's supporting cast are all back, with many of them appearing in this season's trailers.
Newcomers-wise, Theroux will play Robert House, the enigmatic evil-doer who lauds it over New Vegas, which will play a prominent role this season.
"[House] is synonymous with Vegas, and in many ways, controls the city,” co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet told GQ. "So, it felt like it was the only right way to do an adaptation. But also, he's just an unbelievably interesting character. There's interesting questions in protecting Vegas… And is that purely for his own ends, or is there any kind of greater good that he might be after? There's so many echoes to the technocrats of our modern day.
"We find [House] in a place preparing to save Vegas from the coming apocalypse, which he has predicted within, I think, minutes or days," Theroux added. "Whatever algorithm he has run has told him exactly when the apocalypse is going to happen, and how it's going to happen. I'll say nothing else other than there's a fly in the ointment, and he has to call in Cooper Howard to help him figure out what that fly is."
Other cast additions include Macaulay Culkin, who reportedly signed on for a mystery role in Fallout season 2 in November 2024. He'll play a member of Caesar's Legion, an autocratic and xenophobic faction that operates in and around New Vegas. Lastly, Nanjiani's surprise involvement was revealed in season 2's official trailer but, as from playing an airship pilot, the identity of his character is a mystery.
Fallout season 2 story synopsis and speculation
Here's Fallout season 2's official synopsis: "The new season will pick up in the aftermath of season one’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas."
Not a lot to go on, but we can infer more plot-based elements from what's been teased about the forthcoming season. Full spoilers immediately follow for last season's finale, so turn back now if you're not caught up.
Season 1 episode 8 revealed Hank was one of Vault-Tec's junior employees who was placed in cryosleep inside Vault 31 before The Great War. Alongside Betty Pearson, Hank was among those reawakened over 200 years later to help Vault-Tec tyrannically rule the post-apocalyptic United States. He was also responsible for the Fall of Shady Sands – a cataclysmic event that saw a nuclear bomb dropped on the aforementioned New California Republic-run town.
Rose – Lucy and Norm's mom, and Hank's wife – was turned into a feral ghoul due to radiation poisoning from said warhead (FYI, a merciful Lucy kills Rose to end her misery in episode 8), while Maximus' entire family was killed during the initial blast. Oh, and Hank was also a huge fan of Cooper Howard – i.e. the A-list actor who becomes The Ghoul. In summary: Hank has strong ties to all three main characters.
His secret past now not-so-secret, Hank – who was accidentally freed by Maximus before Lucy could tell Maximus about Hank's villainous past – managed to escape in a stolen T60 power armor suit. He suffered a facial injury after being shot by The Ghoul, though, so he'll bear the physical scars – as well as the mental and emotional ones – to show for his crimes moving forward.
Why is all of this important? Episode 8's final scene saw Lucy and The Ghoul form an uneasy alliance – one described as a "buddy road trip", Ella Purnell told Empire magazine – to pursue Hank across the Wasteland.
For her part, Lucy wants more answers about her dad's involvement with Vault-Tec and his familial betrayal. Meanwhile, The Ghoul needs to find Hank to get information on which vault his wife and daughter – Barb and Janey – are in.
Before The Great War, Barb, a high-ranking Vault-Tec staff member, secured a place in one of the evil megacorporation's most prestigious underground bunkers for her family. However, the implied breakdown of Cooper and Barb's marriage – something we might learn more about this season – suggests Cooper lost his place following their divorce, forcing him to survive as an irradiated ghoul on the surface. It's possible Barb and Janey survived The Great War if they were cryogenically frozen in Vault 31 or another subterranean location, and Hank may know where.
All of this points to Hank being the show's primary antagonist moving forward, right?
Not completely. The season 1 finale revealed Barb was also involved in concocting the idea of The Great War to line Vault-Tec's pockets and ensure it was well positioned to rule the US after the nuclear apocalypse.
She was joined at that pivotal meeting by other scheming executives looking to make a quick buck, including RobCo owner Robert House (played by Rafi Silver, not Justin Theroux, in season 1), an Machiavellian ruler who's known as Mr. House, and who first appeared in Fallout: New Vegas. That's the title of the 2010 video game from Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment, which is viewed as one of the franchise's best entries.
Why do you need to know this? Because Fallout season 2 will head to a dilapidated version of New Vegas. It's the location we see Hank look out onto in last season's mid-credits scene and, as evidenced by Fallout season 2's first poster, will be a major setting this season. Expect House to be in the running for antagonist-in-chief in the show's next chapter.
That mid-credits tease concerning New Vegas wasn't the only thing that delighted long-time fans. Indeed, the skull of a Deathclaw, one of the most formidable monsters in the Fallout universe, was also glimpsed. With one teased in the first trailer, at least one Deathclaw will show up in season 2.
As for Maximus, his fellow Brotherhood of Steel, erm, brothers believe he was the one who killed Moldaver – his friend Dane convinces them this was the case – so he's set to have a grater influence within the group. However, Maximus fell for Lucy during the pair's Wasteland excursions last season, so we expect Maximus' allegiances to be torn between the Brotherhood and wanting to reunite with Lucy.
There are plenty of other subplots that require further examination. We need to find out how Norm will escape Vault 31, learn what happened to those Vault 33's inhabitants who resettled in the deserted Vault 32 (and whether Chet will finally reveal its harrowing past), and how Moldaver survived for over 200 years without turning into a ghoul like Cooper.
Additionally, we'll catch up with Thaddeus, who believes he's starting to become a ghoul after consuming a mysterious serum from the cryptic Snake Oil Salesman. We may get more details on cold fusion, a new non-Vault-Tec technological advancement that might offer hope of a brighter future for the surface-dwelling common folk, too, so Fallout season 2 has a lot of ground to cover.
Is Fallout season 2 going to be the final installment?
We come bearing gifts. Season 2 is this December, and Season 3 is as greenlit as a Christmas tree. pic.twitter.com/cLBo7dIzmvMay 13, 2025
No. In May, Amazon confirmed a third season was in development. Speaking to IGN, executive producer Jonathan Nolan said he hoped filming would begin in mid-2026, too, so a late 2027 release window isn't out of the question.
Meanwhile, speaking at Liverpool Comic-Con 2025 (as reported by The Gamer), Moten suggested it'll take five or six seasons to tell Fallout's full story. That tracks with comments made by showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Dworet-Robertson, who told The Hollywood Reporter they were eyeing a similar number of seasons.
Of course, much will depend on the show's ongoing popularity. But, with season 1 being one of the most-watched Prime Video TV Originals ever – 100 million people watched the first season, according to Amazon MGM Studios – there's no reason to suspect Fallout season 3 will be its final chapter.
For more Prime Video coverage, read our guides on The Boys season 5, Invincible season 4, The Rings of Power season 3, and Reacher season 4.
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