It would seem that one can simply walk into the second season of Yellowjackets. Showtime has announced today that Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood has joined the cast of Yellowjackets Season 2 as in a season-long guest arc.

Wood is the latest announced cast member for the series’ second outing, with Obi-Wan Kenobi star Simone Kessell and Lauren Ambrose of Six Feet Under and Servant fame would be joining the series as adult version of Season 1 characters Lottie and Van, respectively. Wood will be playing a guest character named Walter, who is described at a “dedicated Citizen Detective who will challenge Misty in ways she won’t see coming.” Wood has had a long and illustrious career, appearing in such films as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Everything is Illuminated, Sin City, The Faculty, The Ice Storm, Set Fire to the Stars, Open Windows along with providing voice talent to a number of animated features such as Happy Feet and the Tim Burton-produced animated feature 9, as well as being voice talent in animated television series such as Over The Garden Wall and Star Wars Resistance.

None are as memorable as his leading role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson‘s iconic trilogy of films The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King, based on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s The Lord of The Rings. The most recent film that was seen as No Man of God directed by Amber Sealey. Wood also served as a producer on the film, which debuted at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. He is set to star in the upcoming films L.A. Rush and the superhero comedy horror film The Toxic Avenger.

The story Yellowjackets focuses on the members of a high school soccer team that find themselves alone in the Canadian wilderness after they survive a plane crash. The series is split across two points in time: one is the 19 months that the group fights to survive in the wilds while the other part chronicles the group as they live their lives 25 years later. The first season of Yellowjackets has received critical and commercial success, being nominated for 7 Emmy Awards and averaged over 5 million weekly viewers across platforms, making it the second-most streamed series in Showtime history. Wood joins a cast that includes Emmy Awards nominees Melanie Lynskey and Christina Ricci, who were both nominated for their roles in the series for Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Supporting Actress, respectively. The rest of the cast features Juliette Lewis (The Hateful Eight), Christina Ricci (Z: The Beginning of Everything), Tawny Cypress (Unforgettable), Ella Purnell (Sweetbitter), Samantha Hanratty (Shameless), Sophie Thatcher (Prospect), Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief), Steven Krueger (The Originals), and Warren Kole (Shades of Blue).

Narcos and Narcos: Mexico writers Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson are the creators behind Yellowjackets, with the two of them also serving as co-showrunners on the series with Jonathan Lisco (Animal Kingdom). The three of them are also executive producers on the project alongside the pilot director Karyn Kusama and Drew Comins of Creative Engine. The series is produced for Showtime by studio Entertainment One (eOne), with the second season set to go into production later this month in Vancouver.

While an official release date for Season 2 of Yellowjackets has not been announced yet, showrunners Lyle and Nickerson are aiming for an early 2023 release.

via Collider