‘Yellowjackets’: Kevin Alves Promoted to Series Regular for Season 2

Kevin Alves as Teen Travis and Sophie Thatcher as Teen Natalie in Yellowjackets
Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

Yellowjackets star Kevin Alves, who plays the role of Travis Martinez in the hit Showtime drama, has been upped to series regular for the forthcoming second season, according to Deadline.

Alves’ Travis is the older son of Coach Martinez, the head coach of the Yellowjackets girls soccer team, who were involved in a plane crash on their way to the nationals. Throughout the first season, we saw Travis looking out for his younger brother Javi (Luciano Leroux) and developing a romantic relationship with Natalie “Nat” Scatorccio (Sophie Thatcher).

Before landing his role on Yellowjackets, Alves starred as Javi Gonzalez in the Netflix fantasy horror series Locke & Key. He also recurred for two seasons on Shadowhunters as Bat Velasquez. His other television credits include Degrassi: The Next Generation, Warehouse 13, The Expanse, and Chicago Fire.

Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, Yellowjackets premiered on Showtime on November 14, 2021, and was met with critical acclaim. The first season received seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and acting nominations for Melanie Lynskey and Christina Ricci.

In addition to Lynskey and Ricci, the series stars Juliette Lewis, Tawny Cypress, Ella PurnellSamantha Hanratty, Jasmin Savoy BrownSophie Nélisse, Steven Krueger, and Warren Kole. New cast members joining for the second season include Elijah Wood, Lauren Ambrose, and Simone Kessell.

The show was renewed for a second season in December 2021, and production started on Season 2 in August 2022. Filming is expected to wrap up in February, according to Lyle, with a projected early 2023 release date at the most optimistic.

“Nobody wanted to get back on the air quickly more than we did,” Lyle previously told The Wrap. “But we really rolled directly from finishing up Season 1 into Season 2. It’s a deeply serialized story, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t rush it, and that we got it right. And so this was the earliest we could accomplish that.”

Yellowjackets, Season 2, 2023, Showtime