Ben Stiller announces Severance season 2 return after lengthy delay

Emmy-nominated sci-fi thriller first debuted on Apple TV+ in 2022

Severance has returned to production on its second season after a months-long delay due to the recently resolved actors’ and writers’ strikes.

The Emmy-nominated sci-fi thriller series, starring Adam Scott as an employee who’s undergone a surgical procedure to divide his memories between work and personal life, first debuted in the early months of 2022.

Production on season two started a year later but was quickly halted in May 2023 when the writers’ union went on strike, followed by the joint actors’ union (SAG-AFTRA) strike in July.

However, now that both strikes have officially come to an end, Severance co-director Ben Stiller has announced that the team is “back to work”.

Apple TV+ and Stiller shared the news on X on Monday (29 January) alongside a black-and-white, behind-the-scenes photo of Scott in character, running on set.

Severance was officially renewed for a second season on 6 April, two days before its season one finale aired. Fans were overjoyed by the news, with one claiming that if it hadn’t been renewed, they would be “rioting in the streets”.

“It’s really exciting to see the response from people who are loving the show – and the level of fan engagement,” Stiller said at the time of the announcement.

“It has been a long road bringing Severance to television. I first read Dan’s pilot over five years ago. It has always been a multi season story, and I’m really happy we get to continue it. I’m grateful to our partners at Apple TV+ who have been behind it the whole way. Praise Keir!” he added.

Season one of Severance landed several nods at the 2022 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series. It ultimately lost the category to HBO’s family drama, Succession.

Scott also earnt a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He ended up losing the category to Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae who made history as the first Korean actor to win a Best Actor award.

“Compartmentalising home and work life is taken to a new level in this starry Apple+ thriller, which delivers a Kafkaesque nightmare for its ‘severed’ employees,” Leonie Cooper wrote in her three-star review of season one for The Independent.

“As high concept television goes, Severance is pretty lofty, but its ambition is compelling – not least because it might just be the bulls*** jobs backlash we’ve been waiting for,” she added.

Severance is out now on Apple TV+.