Hulu's 'The Great' Has Been Renewed for Season 2

Elle Fanning in "The Great" (Photo: Hulu)

The Great -- "The Beaver’s Nose" - Episode 110 -- Catherine’s decides to move forward with the coup on her birthday. Peter isn’t so easily overcome and holds Leo hostage as collateral. In exchange for a return to her status, Marial betrays Catherine to Peter and tells him that she is pregnant. Catherine realizes that the only chance for a greater Russia is to fight, without Leo. The battle begins. Catherine (Elle Fanning), shown. (Photo by: Andrea Pirrello/Hulu)

2020 Hulu

Huzzah! The Great, Hulu's frothy, mostly inaccurate, and utterly delightful take on the life of a young Catherine the Great, will officially return for a second season

Elle Fanning stars as Catherine in this self-styled "occasionally true story" opposite Nicholas Hoult as her husband Peter III. Other notable figures among the cast include Sacha Dhawan, Charity Wakefield, Sebastian de Souza, Adam GodleyBelinda BromilowGwilym Lee, and more. The Favourite writer Tony McNamara created, wrote, and executive produced the series. The renewal news comes just two months following its debut on the streaming platform in May.

The series' ten-episode first season saw Catherine arrive in Russia to wed Peter, only to discover that her new husband wasn't exactly the fairytale love she'd been promised. As the season continues, Catherine plots a coup against her husband even as their relationship grows more complicated and she learns just how much she doesn't know about what being a leader entails. Along the way, there are moments of excess and cruelty, as well as fun and heart. The Great may be a historical, period-set story, but it also frequently wrestles with much broader, more impactful, and modern concepts, such as questions of leadership and religion, the role of women in power, and how we remember the figures of our own past.

Season 2 will also be comprised of ten episodes, though Hulu declined to provide much in the way of details about what we might expect to see when the series returns. The Season 1 finale ended on a simultaneously hopeful and extremely vague note, and it wasn't entirely clear about whether Catherine's attempted coup would be successful, or what might happen to her husband if it was. 

Our reaction to the news that #TheGreat has been renewed for a second season: pic.twitter.com/vEllLXWxF6

— The Great (@TheGreatHulu) July 2, 2020

"I feel like season 2 would probably continue on this story," Fanning told Entertainment Weekly following the series' debut. "I don't know exactly when it would pick up, but it would be us at this age." 

According to Hulu, The Great was “one of the top performing original comedies” on the service, though the streaming platform did not provide specific viewing numbers.

Are you looking forward to another season of The Great? Let's discuss what we'd like to see happen in the comments. 


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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