Netflix’s ‘Sweet Tooth’ Is Only Just Beginning
The following story contains spoilers for Sweet Tooth Season 1.
Two of Netflix's biggest shows—Stranger Things and The Umbrella Academy—won't be returning for their new seasons this summer, so the streaming giant needed to try something new. And it seems to have struck gold with the first season of Sweet Tooth, based on writer Jeff Lemire's DC/Vertigo comic of the same name.
Like Stranger Things, Sweet Tooth taps into charming, charismatic young actors who can more than carry a fantasy/supernatural storyline. And like The Umbrella Academy, Sweet Tooth comes by way of beloved source material, in this case a 40-issue comic book run. What Sweet Tooth perhaps does better than either of those shows, though, is bring a constant, inescapable sense of optimism in a way that only Ted Lasso has rivaled in the last year and change.
Lemire's comic is brilliant—but much darker and more violent than what we see on screen in the eight episodes of Netflix's Sweet Tooth first season. Here, we see characters who, outside of the villain, General Abbot, all seem to want to do good. In particular, Gus (Christian Convery), Jepperd (Nonso Anozie), and Becky (Stefania LaVie Owen) make for a trio that you can't help but root for, while the optimistic Dr. Singh (Adeel Akhtar) finds himself heading down a slightly darker path by season's end.
Sweet Tooth is an interesting adaptation in that it captures the essences of the characters it adapts very well, but it changes a lot of things about some characters, removes others, and changes some plot points entirely. But it still works.
And with so much of the comic left uncharted, it's interesting to try to think about where future seasons of Sweet Tooth could go. Because the thing about changing the story and the characters even just a little bit is...even source material loyalists won't quite know what's going to come next.
Will there be a Season 2 of Sweet Tooth?
Gonna be clear about this right off the bat—we don't know yet. The signs are looking good, because Sweet Tooth has thus far received fantastic reviews and Season 1 only really touches on the beginning of Lemire's 40-issue story. But as we saw with Jupiter's Legacy, it doesn't matter how much source material a show has, or if it's got a big budget, or big actors, or anything; if people aren't watching, or it's not received well, nothing is guaranteed.
And while Netflix still hasn't given official word on whether or not Sweet Tooth will be back for Season 2, the signs are looking good. Where Jupiter's Legacy was not received well by critics or fans, Sweet Tooth has been the opposite, with those great critical reviews joined by a warm fan reception.
But clearly the story is set up for more by the end of Season 1. If you like Sweet Tooth and want to see more, the best thing you can do is spread the word—the more people who watch, the more likely it is for Season 2 to get Netflix's green light.
When will Season 2 of Sweet Tooth come out?
Good question. Really a shot in the dark, especially since we don't even know for sure if the show will return for Season 2. But if it does, it feels safe to say that Summer or Fall 2022 would be a good guess. It takes time to writer, produce, and film a show. And you don't want a great show to be rushed, do you?
One thing that might get in the way of Season 2 of Sweet Tooth, at least logistically? Showrunner Jim Mickle just landed a major directing job, helming the film adaptation of star comic writer Donny Cates' Image Comics series God Country. The release date of a potential season 2 of Sweet Tooth could depend on the timing surrounding that movie's production.
What will Season 2 of Sweet Tooth be about?
While much of Sweet Tooth is changed from the way it plays out in Jeff Lemire's comic, the events of Season 1 end with Gus caged, crossing paths with the other hybrids, including Wendy and Bobby. The next several issues of the comic series focus on the hybrids escaping the compound, and find Jepperd putting together a team to come back and break them out (in the comic, he turns Gus into Abbot in exchange for his deceased wife's body; in the show this same emotional point is reached by Jepperd almost leaving Gus with the family living in the store).
These plotlines will definitely be similarly followed if Season 2 comes to fruition. We've already seen Gus meet up with Wendy, Bobby, and numerous other hybrids, and an escape will be on the horizon. Meanwhile, Jepperd has linked up with Aimee and the two clearly will come together to reunite with their respective hybrid companions. Aimee as a character doesn't really exist in the comic; the character is kind of a hybrid of Wendy's unnamed mother, and Lucy, a character who is experimented on by Abbot and Dr. Singh and then rescued from sex slave captivity by Jepperd early on (the source material is much darker!). Becky, too, will clearly have a path to reunite with her sister, Wendy. (In the comics, Becky is another in captivity with Lucy).
With the big cliffhanger, too, we can expect to see Becky connect with Birdie (Amy Seimetz), who is alive and in Alaska. Alaska plays a role in the comics, but the show is doing it completely differently.
Speaking of Dr. Singh, his character is much more morally ambiguous in the comic, and it seems like Season 1 sort of leaves him in that space. While the vast majority of the season finds him not wanting or willing to hurt hybrids to find the cure, he reached that point by the end of the season, using his medical bone-saw to cut into a hybrid to work for Abbot. The Singh of the series is shown to be a kind, good man, but by the end of the season it seems that desperation has driven him to the point where he lands in the comic; willing to do anything to find a cure.
Who will be in the cast?
It feels safe to say that if Sweet Tooth gets the green light for Season 2, most of our principal characters will return. That means Nonso Anosie as Jepperd, Christian Convery as Gus, Stefania LaVie Owen as Bear/Becky, Adeel Akhtar as Dr. Singh, Aliza Vellani as Rani Singh, Dania Ramirez as Aimee, Neil Sandilands as the evil General Abbot, and James Brolin as the narrator. It also feels safe to say that the young hybrids, particularly Naledi Murray as Wendy, will return. And as for the adults in Gus' past, well, despite Richard (Gus' "father") being dead, he could easily still appear in flashbacks, so Will Forte will likely recur again. And Amy Seimetz, as Birdy, will definitely play a r0le after that cliffhanger ending.
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