Legacies Star Says Season 2 Will Explore Hope's Dark Side

When The CW's Legacies ended its first season, it did so with huge twist. In order to save the world from the entity called Malivore, the show's central character Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) sacrificed herself and, in the process, erased herself from the memories of everyone who ever knew her. While it's not clear what exactly that means for Season 2 just yet, Russel has some definite ideas of what it means for Hope -- and it's pretty dark.

Russell spoke with TV Guide at The CW's 2019 Upfront presentation last week and revealed that the season will explore what Hope's absence means but may also go into the character's dark side.

"I think that Season 2 will definitely explore Hope's absence in this world and the impact that she does have," Russell said. "I'd really love to explore her darker side a bit after jumping into Malivore. I'm sure it's taken some sort of effect on her mental psyche."

Not that Hope was in the best place before Malivore. In The Originals, the series Legacies is spun-off from, Hope lost both of her parents under pretty traumatic circumstances, not to mention being possessed by The Hollow, the spirit of a powerful, evil witch while she was a child and a host of other horrors. They're events that fans have never really seen Hope deal with, due in part to a time jump between The Originals and Legacies.

"I'd really like to see how Hope handles situations, traumatic situations, more on-screen," she added. "Because after the death of her parents, we kind of did a time jump, and we didn't really see that process, and I'd love to see that process explored a little bit more. And I'd also love to see the impact that it has on Hope and Landon (Aria Shahghasemi) because she did it for them, so it's kind of a beautiful and tragic dynamic that I'm really excited to see more of next year."

Whatever state hope is in for Season 2, it also sounds like despite Malivore being defeated, the show's dealing with fantastical creatures is far from over. Series creator Julie Plec said earlier this year that there are plenty more to explore.

"We've had conversations about demigods and demons and more fantastical creatures," Plec told TV Line following the season finale. "We've also had conversations about creatures with historical implications and literary references. If a book has been written about a headless horseman, who's to say that the headless horseman didn't also exist in Malivore's time?"

"It's certainly our intention, conceptually, to have a similar structure for the next season," Plec continued. "Without giving away too much about how or why, we definitely like the idea that things we wouldn't expect to exist in our little Vampire Diaries universe keep knocking on the door of the Salvatore School and causing problems."

Legacies Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix. The show will return for a second season sometime this fall on The CW.