Donald Glover’s Prime Video project Swarm released all its episodes on March 17. Co-created with Atlanta writer Janine Nabers, the horror-thriller series stars Dominique Fishback as Dre, a young woman obsessed with a pop star named Ni’Jah, who is very (intentionally) similar to Beyoncé. Dre’s own life is full of disconnect and abandonment, and she seems to turn to Ni’Jah for meaning and inspiration. But things get twisted, and bloody, pretty fast.
Here’s what we know about a possible season two for this already popular show.
What would the plot of Swarm season 2 be about?
The SXSW logline for Swarm season 1 was: “Murder. Sex. Music.”
That about sums it up! Dre’s story begins with an obsession with Ni’Jah then turns to her life as a murderer following the suicide of her sister, Marissa, played by Chloe Bailey. As Dre’s life unravels, she quickly meets all her conflicts with violence. Glover himself described the series as a “post-truth Piano Teacher mixed with The King of Comedy” to Vanity Fair.
A second season of Swarm would probably retain a lot of the creepy elements that the first one offered, with more murder—and it would have to involve a jailbreak. The last two episodes of season one present different perspectives on what happens to Dre. Either she is arrested after storming the stage at a Ni’Jah concert, or she is accepted by her idol, invited to sing by her side, and then embraced in the star’s private limo. One of those possibilities seems more likely than the other.
Will there be a Swarm season 2?
A Swarm season 2 has not been confirmed, but the series is being met with a lot of positive feedback. It probably depends on viewership and if the creators even want to make another season. In a way, Dre’s story seems pretty closed and covered in her singular season. But if Dre has a lot of fans, they might want to see her on the loose again.
Nabers, however, told ELLE.com that Swarm is “definitely a limited series. The story of Dre is over.”
But when asked about the possibility of Swarm being an anthology series that focuses on other superfans, she replied, “I don’t know. If you look at the history of Atlanta, it took many, many years to complete that, so who knows? But as of right now, I’m saying we’re done.”
Swarm is Glover’s first project under his Amazon overall deal, which THR reported was in the eight-figure range, so they might just let him do whatever he wants.
Who would star in Swarm season 2?
Well, Dre kills a lot of the characters in season one, so we probably won’t be welcoming back most of them unless it’s in flashbacks or some other conceit that allows them to return from the dead. Chloe Bailey made a surprise return in the last episode, after all. Dominique Fishback seems the most likely to return as Dre, but Glover and Nabers could use the conceit of Swarm being about an obsessed fan to explore other aspects of fandom.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.
