Netflix has become notoriously cancel-happy of late, with many of their recent original TV series not making it past their first seasons. Fate: The Winx Saga was one of the lucky ones, though, as this YA fantasy series proved so popular that Netflix renewed it for a second run less than a month after its first six episodes debuted in January this year. The good news continues for fans as it looks like they won’t have to wait too long for season 2 as it’s already in production.
Deadline made the announcement this Tuesday, confirming that filming has now begun on the show’s sophomore run in County Wicklow, Ireland. What’s more, three new cast members have been added to the ensemble. Brandon Grace, Éanna Hardwicke and Paulina Chávez will be playing incoming characters Grey, Sebastian and Flora, respectively.
As based on the hit 2000s Nickelodeon animation Winx Club, Netflix retooled the colorful cartoon for young girls into a live-action teen drama. The first season followed Abigail Cowen’s Bloom, a young fire fairy who enrolls at a magical boarding school where she learns about her grand destiny and befriends fellow students light fairy Stella (Hannah van der Westhuysen), water fairy Aisha (Precious Mustapha), earth fairy Terra (Eliot Salt) and mind fairy Musa (Elisha Applebaum). All five leads will return for season 2, as will Vampire Diaries veteran Brian Young as showrunner.
Fans were mixed on the first season, with many not appreciating how different it was from the original show, but clearly its viewing figures were high enough to outweigh any online negativity and made it an easy decision for Netflix to renew it. In that way, The Winx Saga has proven more successful than other genre series that never made it past one season, like superhero drama Jupiter’s Legacy or Arthurian retelling Cursed.
Fate: The Winx Saga season 2 will consist of eight episodes, two more than season 1. A release sometime in 2022 seems likely.