Twisted Metal Showrunner Teases Titular Tournament and Iconic Characters in Season 2

Twisted Metal season 2 is officially in development and it will bring forth a lot of fan-favorite elements, such as the demolition derby-esque tournament itself. Over the last few years, there has been a significant uptick in video game adaptations across film and television. We have had The Last of Us, Uncharted, Gran Turismo, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more all in the last few years, all ranging in varying degrees of quality, but they’re all at the very least entertaining and making a consistent effort to be faithful to their source material, which couldn’t always be said many years ago. One of 2023’s most notable adaptations was Twisted Metal, it was actually really well-made and funny, but it did get criticized for not really having the signature tournament in it. There was other car on car action, but not quite enough for a show called Twisted Metal. Ironically, a similar thing happened with Mortal Kombat a few years ago, but Twisted Metal will rectify this in the recently announced season 2.

Speaking with NBC, showrunner Michael Jonathan Smith (also known for Cobra Kai) talked about what to expect from season 2 of the record setting show. Jonathan Smith noted we will see the introduction of a number of characters from the games including Dollface, Mr. Grimm, and Axel, but also can expect the entire season to center around the Twisted Metal tournament. He noted that Cobra Kai followed a similar structure of “tournament seasons” and “consequence seasons”, with fans being able to expect the former for Twisted Metal season 2.

“I’m excited for fans to see these characters come to life and see what makes them funny and what makes them heartbroken. I think it’s gonna be fun to dive into these people … We introduced a lot of these characters — Preacher, Bloody Mary, John, Quiet, Watts — it’s gonna be fun to put them all in a [single] place at the tournament and have them interact. I’m excited about seeing how does Preacher react to Bloody Mary? How does Grimm react to Sweet Tooth?’ There’s a lot of really fun, interconenctive character headspace stuff that I’m really excited to dive into. It feels like a new toy box. […] On Cobra Kai, there were very much tournament seasons and consequence seasons, and this is very much a tournament season. I want everything to feel like it’s tied to the tournament, even if we aren’t in the tournament yet. I am hopeful that it will surprise and delight those people who saw the finale of Episode 10 and was like, ‘I want to see more of that in a tournament setting.’ My goal is to capture that.”

As for how long Twisted Metal could go for, they have no concrete ending in sight, but will keep it going so long as fans support the show.

“I love world-building and this felt like a cool opportunity to be like, ‘What is an American Lord of the Rings?’ What’s so fun about the way Tolkien writes — and a lot of the books that I love to read — is that I feel like I’m living in a world. I think this show could go on for as long as people want it to and I think that there’s tons more stories to tell in it, which is really exciting … I’m excited for you to see more. I think it’s gonna be wild.”