Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. Videos

The stars of ‘The Man in the High Castle’ talk season 2

By
The Man in the High Castle is based on the work of acclaimed writer Philip K. Dick, whose science fiction novel
Recommended Videos
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was turned into Blade Runner and whose short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale was adapted into two Total Recall films. The Man in the High Castle marks the first time Dick’s work has been adapted for television. Amazon released 10 episodes for the acclaimed first season, and is now is readying an additional 10 for season 2.

We met up with the cast and crew to discuss what’s ahead for fans in this rich, alternate-history story at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. In the video, we speak with series stars Alexa Davalos (Juliana Crain), DJ Qualls (Ed McCarthy), Rufus Sewell (Obergruppenführer John Smith), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Nobusuke Tagomi), Rupert Evans (Frank Frink), and newcomer Bella Heathcote from the film Neon Demon. We also talked with series director/producer Daniel Percival.

The fact that fans now get 20 episodes of the binge-worthy show in such short order is amazing given the nine years it took for Dick’s daughter, Isa Hackett (co-founder of Electric Shepherd Productions), to get The Man in the High Castle made after Ridley Scott and his Scott Free Productions were on board to produce.

The series is set in a 1963 America in which the Nazis and Japanese have won World War II and split the now-occupied America between them. Hackett always looked at the source material as a serialized show, rather than a two-hour feature film.

With the sophomore season debuting Dec. 16, the surprise sci-fi ending of the first season left a lot of unanswered questions. At the Comic Con panel, Hackett promised fans will finally get to meet the elusive “man in the high castle.” Taking a page out of the recent Game of Thrones season 6, this show isn’t following the book verbatim. Hackett said the book has been a spiritual guide to the series, which means some things that were skipped over in season 1 will be incorporated into the new season.

The producers confirmed that (spoiler alert!) Juliana Crain (played by Davalos) will be dealing with the decimation of the resistance, Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank) will be moving to Berlin, and Frank Frink (Evans) will become more radicalized after viewing the mysterious movies in season 1.

With political tensions mounting between Germany and Japan, Trade Minister Tagomi (Tagawa) begins to regret the success he had in Season 1. Meanwhile, John Smith (Sewell) struggles to reconcile the values of the Reich with the deteriorating health of his son — all while tasked with a mission from the Führer for which failure is not an option.

Season 2 of Man in the High Castle premieres on Amazon December 16, 2016.

Topics
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Contributor
John Gaudiosi has been covering video games for over 25 years, dating back to his work for The Washington Post while in…
The best animated movies on Netflix right now
A cat points a bat at another cat in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

While Nimona has been the big Netflix original animated film of the summer, it's far from the only addition to the lineup. Netflix is making sure that animation fans are well served in August with the first two Despicable Me movies, Bee Movie, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. However, Netflix's biggest recent addition is one of 2022's biggest animated hits: DreamWorks' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Netflix's deals with Sony Pictures Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and Universal Pictures have given it a powerhouse library of animated films. And that's before we even get into Netflix's impressive originals like The Sea Beast. To help you keep track of what's new and what you can stream right now, we've updated our list of the best animated movies on Netflix.

Read more
From Barbarella to Howard the Duck: the 7 cheesiest sci-fi movies ever
Howard the Duck in "Howard the Duck."

The science-fiction genre has a vast smorgasbord of cheesy films stretching way back to the early days of cinema. Such pictures are known for their weird stories, unrealistic dialogue, low-budget productions, and exaggerated acting.

While many of these films have been panned by critics and audiences alike, some of them have garnered success for being "so bad, they're good." Whether or not they have been held up by a dedicated fan base, these seven movies stand out as the cream of the cheesy sci-fi crop.
Flash Gordon (1980)

Read more
10 best Batman stories ever, ranked
Batman Year One cover

Bounding from rooftop to rooftop, the Dark Knight never misses his mark. He operates like a well-oiled machine tracking bad guys, beating them to a bloody pulp, and throwing them in the slammer - or Arkham Asylum should they be anyone of Gotham's notable supervillains. As the brainchild of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, an artist and writer duo, Batman has been pounding the pavement of Gotham ever since his debut in Detective Comics in 1939. He's undergone a number of changes since his original conception ultimately becoming the brooding powerhouse we know today.

Most understand the basic tenants of Batman these days. His parents were murdered before his young eyes leading him down this path of personal vindication and pursuit of justice. Batman, in most iterations, never resorts to killing -- the one crime that separates his outlaw vigilante operations from the real criminals. Of course, it wasn't always that way. In Batman's earliest days, he had no qualms about ending the lives of baddies on the streets. Even now, some stories and films like Tim Burton's gothic take on the character depict him looking on with cold and uncaring glares as criminals meet their end. Regardless, Batman is mostly a well-established hero simply seeking justice and there are countless stories of the Caped Crusader. Let's take a look at the best among them.
10. Hush

Read more