The new season, which welcomes Gillian Anderson, kicks off Nov. 19.
The gloves are off when The Great returns for season 2.
Hulu's raunchy historical comedy, led by Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great and Nicholas Hoult as Peter III of Russia, kicks off its sophomore season Friday, Nov. 19, the streaming service announced Friday during the Television Critics Association press tour.
The new teaser for season 2, which offers a sneak peek at a pregnant Catherine, also reveals a very (brief) first look at Gillian Anderson as Catherine's mother.
As Catherine and Peter fight over the throne, their differing views on how to proceed -- with or without bloodshed -- leads to even more mayhem. When Peter confronts Catherine over her belief that she can run Russia without violence, she stands her ground. "I will. I'm winning," she says adamantly, prompting her husband to smirk, "I love that you think that."
"There are so many reasons for you to give up," Peter says. "For instance, we can have sex."
"I'd rather choke to death on this tiny chicken," Catherine fires back.
Here's the official synopsis for season 2 of The Great: "Catherine finally takes the Russian throne for her own -- but if she thought coup-ing her husband was difficult, it’s nothing compared to the realities of liberating a country that doesn’t want to be. She’ll battle her court, her team, even her own mother (played by guest star Gillian Anderson) in a bid to bring the Enlightenment to Russia. Meanwhile, she’ll also battle her heart as Peter slowly transitions from a much-hated husband to a prisoner? Ally? Lover? Ultimately, Catherine will learn that to change a country, you must let it change you, that there is a fine line between idealism and delusion, and that becoming 'Great' will ask more of her than she could have imagined."
Watch the first teaser for The Great season 2 below.
Also starring in the series are Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, Sacha Dhawan, Bayo Gbadamosi and Belinda Bromilow.
During the virtual TCA session for The Great on Friday afternoon, Fanning spoke about wearing a baby bump for much of the season and going through the various stages of Catherine's pregnancy.
"I'm pregnant for a lot of the series so we would have different stages of the bump, and it was interesting working with our costume team and making the dresses that would work and show the bump in a certain way. That was definitely an ordeal. I got to wear a prosthetic for some scenes, which I love. They got to do a mold of my body -- it took about two hours to put on -- but it was really interesting. Very, very heavy. Kind of hard to hold up," Fanning recalled. "Obviously I haven't been pregnant but I really liked playing with that because I think it's a big part of the season because this season has a parental theme running through it. And having Catherine kind of grappling with the fact that she's becoming a mother soon but then the baby is also her protection because she knows that while he's -- or her, we call him Paul -- while Paul's in there she's safe. Peter's not going to kill her with a baby in there. She's understanding that but also caught between countries, so the baby symbolized a lot of things but it was fun to wear. It was hot at times."
As far how long The Great may go on, creator Tony McNamara admits he's taking it season by season and that he's "not sure" what his grand plan is overall. "I had versions of it that had a few more [seasons]," he said. "I'm focused season to season, probably because it's easier."
For more, watch below.
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