‘Wolf Hall’ Returns After 9 Years: First Look at Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis & More (PHOTOS)
Masterpiece has revealed the first look photos of Mary Rylance, Damian Lewis, Kate Phillips, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Jonathan Pryce, Timothy Spall, and more in Wolf Hall Season 2. The second season of the PBS limited series is billed as Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. It’s been nine years since Wolf Hall first debuted; the series premiered on April 5, 2015. Now, fans will finally get to see what happens next, and with much of the original cast.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy. The new pictures show Rylance as Thomas Cromwell, Lewis as King Henry VIII, Phillips as Jane Seymour, Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, Harriet Walter as Lady Margaret Pole, Harry Melling as Thomas Wriothesley, Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler, Spall as the Duke of Norfolk, Alex Jennings as Stephen Gardiner, and Charlie Rowe as Gregory Cromwell.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light traces the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from a self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time. Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a diplomat and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age. A Wolf Hall Season 2 premiere date will be announced at a later time, but it’s presumably premiering in 2024.
The logline for Season 2 gives a captivating look at the intrigue to come: “May, 1536. Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, is dead. As the axe drops, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, and no private army. Navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal and bloody time, Cromwell is caught between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive. But in the wake of Henry VIII having executed his queen, no one is safe.”
“Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future,” the description continues. “All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows. The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze?”
The Crown‘s Claire Foy played the ill-fated Anne Boleyn in Season 1, with Tom Holland as Gregory Cromwell. Rowe replaces Holland in the role in Season 2. Lesser’s father, Anton Lesser, played Thomas More in Season 1.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, Season Premiere, TBA, PBS
Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell
Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII
Kate Phillips as Jane Seymour
Harriet Walter as Lady Margaret Pole
Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey
Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler
Timothy Spall as Duke of Norfolk and Alex Jennings as Stephen Gardiner
Charlie Rowe as Gregory Cromwell
Harry Melling as Thomas Wriothesley
Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary
