Will There Be A ‘Locke & Key’ Season 2 On Netflix?

It only took 12 years, but Locke & Key is finally on Netflix. The 10 episode first season of the show dropped on February 7, and is already poised to be a big hit for the streaming service. But with only 10 hours (actually, more like 8 hours once you cut out credits and add together the running time) available, the audience is clearly going to be hungry to unlock more episodes. So when will Locke & Key Season 2 be on Netflix?

Great question. Great, great question. The short answer is… We don’t know. The longer answer, which we do actually have some intriguing info about, will follow a short description of the show, for those of you who decided to click on an article about Locke & Key Season 2 without having first watched Season 1.

Locke & Key is based on the comic book series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, published by IDW, that was told over the course of six volumes. The Netflix series liberally adapts that story, but the bones are the same… The Locke family moves to a town called Matheson, Massachusetts, after the family patriarch Rendell (Bill Heck) is brutally murdered. There, they discover their new home is full of magical keys, and an entity that wants them for dark, mysterious purposes.

It’s creepy and it’s spooky, but not that kooky, and the season ends with multiple cliffhangers that tee up an expanded, exciting, Season 2. So with that in mind, here’s what we know so far.

WILL THERE BE A SEASON 2 OF NETFLIX’S LOCKE & KEY? WHEN WILL LOCKE & KEY SEASON 2 HIT NETFLIX?

There’s good news, and question mark news on this front. Before Locke & Key even debuted, Executive Producer Carlton Cuse told Decider that, “We’re writing Season 2 even though we haven’t been picked up, with the anticipation and hope that we will get picked up.” As of the writing of this piece, that’s still true… Season 2 hasn’t been officially greenlit, but they’ll be ready if it is.

On that note, Netflix is a little all over the place in terms of pickups of shows, but generally a month after the debut of a series is a good point to aim for in terms of an announcement. Since Locke & Key debuted on February 7, beginning of March might be a good time to keep your eyes peeled. Could be earlier, could be later, so don’t panic either way.

As for when a Season 2 could debut, if it is picked up? The fact that they’re already writing the season makes comparing the schedule to Season 1 a little tricky, but let’s look at the info… Netflix announced they were close to finalizing a deal for the series in July of 2018, and once they did pick it up, the team crafted 10 all new scripts after scrapping the Hulu version. They also needed to cast the show, build sets, etc. Filming for Season 1 ran from February 11 to July 5, 2019 in Toronto, with some additional footage picked up elsewhere. The debut date was officially announced in December of 2019, and it debuted on February 7, 2020.

Assuming Season 2 gets the same production schedule, that means five months of shooting — and of note, Netflix shows will sometimes begin shooting even though an official pickup announcement has yet to be made. That said, if they’re still writing the season, that means additional casting, hiring directors and crews, etc, may still need to be done. So assume that early March date is potentially the earliest they could get started filming, though more likely a little later than that.

Even with an extremely quick March start date, they wouldn’t finish shooting until August. With another five months of post-production, that potentially means the series wouldn’t be ready until January, earliest; meaning possibly a March, 2021 debut date for Season 2, to make time for promotion.

That all said, this is extremely haphazard guessing based on scant info. Production could be shorter, post-production could be shorter, or it could be longer. Or they could start later. That all said, I would not expect a potential Season 2 until some time in the first quarter of 2021 at the earliest.

WHAT COULD HAPPEN IN LOCKE & KEY SEASON 2, BASED ON THE COMICS?

Okay, okay, SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT. By the end of Season 1, the show has already made some massive departures from the comics. Specifically, things like the Black Door — the home of the ravenous demons who turned Lucas Caravaggio (Felix Mallard) evil decades earlier — hasn’t been opened. And he’s still the only infected person in town, versus the show, where Lucas, in the guise of Gabe (Griffin Gluck), is now working with Eden Hawkins (Halea Jones).

That said, the majority of the ground covered in Season 1 runs through the first three volumes of the series: “Welcome to Lovecraft,” “Head Games,” and “Crown of Shadows.” There are plenty of exceptions, and it’s all in a different order. But a lot of the material from the next three volumes, “Keys to the Kingdom,” “Clockworks” and “Alpha & Omega” isn’t covered yet. That includes plenty more magical keys, from the strength-inducing Hercules Key, to the squirrel summoning Nut key (really).

But the biggest area I’d expect to see explored in a potential Season 2 is the long history of Keyhouse, which stretched back to the Revolutionary War. We got to see a bit of history from Lucas’ time before he was turned evil; but through multiple massive wars and centuries, the keys having been wrecking havoc on generations of the Locke family.

There’s plenty more that’s detailed in the books as Lucas/Dodge goes head to head with the Lockes; and the team behind the Netflix adaptation hasn’t been afraid to add their own ideas and details, at the same time. So come on, Netflix: unlock that Season 2 renewal.

Stream Locke & Key on Netflix