Locke and Key season 2: release date, cast, trailer and latest news

The teaser drops a few hints about what it's really advertising in the opening minute, with repeated references to a town called Matheson, which is the fictional setting of Locke and Key named after influential horror writer Richard Matheson.

The premise of The Splattering should delight fans of tongue-in-cheek creature features, as it imagines a giant lobster emerging from one of Matheson's coasts to take brutal revenge on its residents for their annual seafood festival.

In the second half, the Netflix trailer gives us our first-look at a scene from the season two premiere, which depicts some serious tension between Gabe and his new accomplice Eden. Check it out below.

Based on a comic book from the mind of Joe ("son of Stephen King") Hill, the show follows Locke siblings Tyler, Bode and Kinsey as they grapple with the magical keys strewn around the ancestral home they have moved into.

In addition to having amazing – and sometimes unnerving – powers, the keys are also sought after by a malicious presence known as Dodge, who took several different forms throughout the first season.

Indeed, the finale dropped a bombshell on viewers, as it was revealed that the demonic entity was masquerading as a trusted friend to the Locke family, which is set to be a key plot thread in the episodes to come.

We have your Locke and Key recap right here, as well as everything else you need to know about the return of the Netflix series, including release date, cast, trailer and more.

Locke and Key season two release date

CONFIRMED: Locke and Key season two will stream exclusively on Netflix from Friday 22nd October 2021.

The fantasy series was renewed back in March 2020, mere days after the coronavirus pandemic threw modern life into total disarray, which is why this follow-up is coming later than fans would have ideally liked.

Filming finally got underway in late September 2020 and it appears that the execs at Netflix were very happy with what they saw, as they gave the show an early third season renewal three months later.

That might also have been motivated by the young cast, who will become too old to play their roles unless Netflix completes this adaptation post-haste.

Locke and Key seasons two and three were shot back-to-back, meaning viewers probably won't be waiting quite so long for the next batch, which is likely to arrive sometime next year.

Locke & Key season 2 cast

The new season of Locke and Key will reunite main stars Connor Jessup (Falling Skies), Emilia Jones (Utopia) and Jackson Robert Scott (Stephen King's IT), who play the Locke siblings Tyler, Kinsey and Bode respectively.

Darby Stanchfield (Scandal) also returns in a key role as their mother Nina Locke, while Aaron Ashmore (Killjoys) has been promoted to series regular as their beloved Uncle Duncan.

Several other members of the Locke & Key cast will be reprising their roles, including Petrice Jones (Step Up: High Water) as high school student Scot Cavendish, who is the mastermind director behind B-movie slasher The Splattering.

Griffin Gluck (American Vandal) will also be back following season one's shock twist that Kinsey's boyfriend Gabe is in fact the ruthless villain Dodge (formerly known as Echo) in disguise using the identity key.

Dodge's alternate female form is portrayed by Laysla De Oliveira, who also starred in another Joe Hill adaptation In The Tall Grass, while Felix Mallard (Ginny & Georgia) plays her original human host Lucas Caravaggio.

Dodge isn't the only person that the Locke kids need to look out for in season two, as Hallea Jones will also be back as classmate Eden Hawkins, newly possessed by an entity from beyond the omega door (more on that below).

Deadline reports that Brendan Hines (The Tick) has joined the cast as Josh Bennett, a charismatic history teacher at Matheson Academy who is hiding a secret agenda.

Locke and Key season 2 plot spoilers

The first season of Locke and Key was inspired by volumes one through to four of the comic books, touching on the Locke siblings dealing with their grief as they find the keys, and Dodge's attempts to steal them so that she can take over the world.

Though that may sound like creators Carlton Cuse and Meredith Averill will soon run out of source material to draw from, they don't seem to think that's the case.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Averill said: "The world Joe and Gabe created is so rich with so much potential for places to go that I feel like we have many stories we want to tell. The stories we tell in season one are launching points for many of the stories that have yet to come."

In the same interview, Cuse also teased where the story will go next: "Things are not ideal at the start of season two. That's how one should want it [as a storyteller]. Dodge has turned out to be even more formidable than they could have imagined.

"But by the same token, across the first season, our kids have come to learn that they are the new keepers of the keys, and that they have the responsibility that goes with that. Both sides have stepped up their game for what's going to happen in season two."

Netflix have been revealing some of the keys we can expect to see in season two, including one that has the power to make small thing huge when inserted into a model of Key House. That proves to be bad news when a spider makes its way into the replica.

Watch the key in action below.

Meanwhile, on Instagram, the streamer has revealed the Hercules key, which functions in tandem with a utility belt and helps the user to accomplish incredible feats of strength.

Averill has teased that Locke and Key season two will also explore the issue of Tyler and Kinsey getting closer to the 18th birthdays, which means they will soon no longer be sensitive to the magic around them.

"Tonally, I think we intend to keep the show the same, but we do want to deepen the characters' lives and the issues they're dealing with," she told Gizmodo.

"The older kids are moving closer to their graduation, and while grief is something that you never fully let go of, the kids are going to be able to begin moving on because, at least for now, they know the truth of what happened to him."

In a further interview with SFX Magazine, she confirmed that the shocking reveal that Kinsey's boyfriend Gabe is actually another of Dodge's alternate personas will be a key plot thread in season two.

"For the audience, there is great tension that will play between [Gabe and Kinsey]," Averill says. "She and the rest of the Lockes have been unaware that the demon they believe that they vanquished has actually been under their nose this whole time. We will be wondering when and how they might figure it out, and how much damage might be done before they do."

There is scope for flashback stories to be told too as readers of the Locke and Key comics will know that this fantasy dates back hundreds of years.

The origin of the mysterious whispering keys unfolds against the backdrop of the War of Independence in the late 1700s, while short snapshots featuring the various Locke ancestors have been set in the years since.

In the early days, adults were still capable of seeing the full effects of the keys and would be until midway through World War II when they were concealed for the good of humanity.

The main Locke and Key comic book story concluded with the final issue of volume six in late 2013, but the series has recently returned for a surprise crossover with Neil Gaiman's Sandman universe.

Notably, Netflix is also developing a live-action adaptation of The Sandman starring The Hollow Crown's Tom Sturridge, but the two shows are not expected to share a universe.

Locke and Key season 1 recap

It's been more than 18 months since the first season of Locke and Key dropped on Netflix, so we don't blame you if your memory of the show has become a bit fuzzy. Here's a quick recap.

Following the murder of their father Rendell Locke, children Tyler, Kinsey and Bode move into their family's ancestral home (aptly named Keyhouse) along with mum, Nina.

As they settle into their new lives, they discover Keyhouse contains an array of mysterious keys, each one gifting those who discover them with a range of magical powers – but only children can make full use of these abilities.

Another complication is that a sinister villain known by the names Echo and Dodge is trying to harness the power of the keys for her own nefarious goals and she’s not about to let the siblings get in her way.

In the series finale, Tyler, Kinsey and Bode were attacked by Dodge, who was using the Crown of Shadows to send spooky monsters chasing after them.

Ultimately, they outsmarted Dodge and seemingly knocked her out, deciding the best option available to them was to throw her back from whence she came: through the mysterious "omega door" in the ominously named Drowning Caves under Keyhouse.

With help from friends Scot, Gabe, Jackie and Eden, they carry her down and throw her through, taking care to avoid the glowing bullets that fire from the other side of the door and possess anybody they hit with a demonic parasite.

For a moment, it seems as if the plan has gone off without a hitch, as Dodge plummets into the cosmic horror beyond the omega door, before it is sealed to keep its terrifying residents from our reality.

However, gym teacher Ellie Whedon, who had been coerced into hiding Dodge at her house, remains missing after the two had a major confrontation, in which her son Rufus sustained injuries.

In the final moments of the Locke & Key season one finale, it is revealed that the person the Locke children and their allies threw through the omega door was actually Ellie herself, whose appearance had been changed by Dodge using the identity key.

The Locke children are yet to learn the heartbreaking truth that they sent an innocent woman to her apparent death, while the true danger is right under their nose – as Dodge continues masquerading as Kinsey's very own boyfriend, Gabe. The drama!

As if that wasn't bad enough, we also learn that Eden was hit by one of the malicious spirits from behind the omega door, meaning she too now has a violent and insatiable desire to gather the keys with Gabe. Their goal: unleashing hell on Earth (literally).

Despite all the trauma they have endured – supernatural and otherwise – the Locke family decides to stay at Keyhouse and settle back into life in Matheson.

If you're looking for more details on the end of Locke and Key's first season, the show's official Twitter account has shared this thread recapping where we left each of the main characters.

Locke and Key season 2 trailer

Netflix gave fans their first look at Locke and Key season two in September 2021, as Griffin Gluck's Gabe goes full bad guy and the Locke siblings scramble to save the world from his terrible plan.

In an interview with Decider after the season one finale, the American Vandal alum revealed that his co-stars weren't aware of his character's dark streak, but he couldn't wait to get stuck into that side of him.

"I was so excited to play the evil guy," Gluck said. "I couldn’t stop talking about it. I actually didn't know most of the cast did not know that."

Watch the teaser below:

A full-length trailer has now arrived too and it shows off a lot more of what we will be in for when season two lands in a couple of weeks time.

Want to read more about Locke and Key?

• What is an Echo in Locke and Key?
• Locke and Key season 2 ending explained
• Where is Locke and Key filmed?

Locke and Key returns to Netflix on Friday 22nd October. Check out more of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.