‘The Gifted’ Creator Has A Master Plan In Place For Season 2

As The Gifted rapidly approaches its Season 1 finale, airing Jan. 15, there will definitely be a number of fans who wish it did not have to end. Luckily, Season 2 of The Gifted is happening for sure, per Entertainment Weekly. But while Fox has ordered another set of new episodes, no official date for the series’ return has been announced.

UPDATE: Per a Fox press release, The Gifted Season 2 will premiere on Sept. 25.

EARLIER: Before this news, the future of the series was a bit up in the air. Although it had relatively strong ratings, the recent Disney-FOX merger is only freshly finalized. After all, The Gifted (set decoration: Lisa K. Sessions) is a Marvel property, and thus potentially affected by the deal. However, as Deadline notes, the deal not being expected to be completed within the year, so any reconfiguration that could impact The Gifted probably won't happen before Season 2 airs.

The Gifted has a shorter season than some network dramas, as Season 1 premiered in early October and is ending in January. But it stands to reason that The Gifted will remain a fall premiere for the network. So you expect the X-Men series to be back in September or October of 2018.

It’s reasonable that people have been speculating about the future of the show though, because despite the confirmation of a second season, information is scarce. As TVLine notes, there’s no episode count for the new season as of yet. Although, it stands to reason that if the network is willing to grant a second season, fans can reasonably expect either 13 (which is what we saw in Season 1) or 22 new episodes in Season 2. Those two episode counts are relatively consistent industry standards.

Some outlets are looking into what Season 2 of The Gifted may entail. Kevin Melrose of Comic Book Resources thinks that the best recipe for success for the series would be more screen time for some of the newest characters on the series: the Stepford Cuckoos. “They’re cold, calculating and, when combined, immensely powerful, and immediately more interesting than all of the members of the Mutant Underground, combined,” he said. “So much so that they should be a primary focus on The Gifted‘s recently announced second season.”

Of course, fans aren’t the only ones thinking about what Season 2 will entail. Matt Nix, the showrunner for the series, has said that he already has the plan for the second season in mind. In an interview with Collider, done back in October of last year, he explained:

“I’m confident that I have a sense of where it goes and a sense of what Season 1 is and what Season 2 is … I want to be doing this show for a long time. This is a show I really care about and really love, and I hope that comes across. I’m trying to think a lot about what’s a satisfying end of the season that doesn’t feel so close-ended.”

The news of the second season is a bit of a bright spot for fans of superheroes, because not all of the superhero shows introduced in the last year look to be continuing. Although not official as of yet, there are mumblings that Marvel’s Inhumans won’t be making it to Season 2, despite being intended to run multiple seasons.

It is good to know that it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when The Gifted will return to television. And with the Mutant Underground facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles, there's a lot to be done. It's likely that the season will end on a cliffhanger, so hopefully, more details about The Gifted Season 2 will begin to come out as the hiatus drags on.