Netflix Has Officially Renewed Elite For A Season 2 — Meet The New Cast

UPDATE: This story was originally published on October 16 at 4:10 p.m.

Ask and you shall receive. Just one day after we questioned whether Netflix would renew its hyper buzzy teen drama Elite for a second season, it did.

In mid-October 2018, Netflix confirmed Elite season 2 will return with eight episodes in 2019. Season 1, which debuted less than two weeks before the renewal announcement, is also eight episodes long. Now that 2019 is in full swing, the streaming service confirmed the entire core cast of Elite's OG Las Encinas teens will return, save for María Pedraza, who played the tragic Marina. It's unclear if Pedraza will return for flashback sequences.

However it is clear Netflix also confirmed young performers Jorge Lopez, Georgina Amorós, and Claudia Salas are also joining the cast. All three will be playing classmates of our beloved, muder-y Elite students. You can see the Las Encinas newcomers in the very Pretty Little Liars-esque video below along with the original cast's reaction to Elite's season 2 renewal.

And before you start worrying Elite will change too much with so many new faces, remember the Netflix drama's initial creative team — including directors Ramón Salazar and Dani de la Orden — will return.

Keep reading to find out what the now-promised second season of Elite should be about.

So, you’ve binged Netflix’s eight delicious episodes of Elite season 1, shrieked over finding out who actually killed Marina (María Pedraza), and went through a roller coaster of emotions over your feelings about big man on campus Guzmán (Miguel Bernardeau). What is an Elite fan to do now? Pray to the Las Encinas gods for a season 2, of course.

But, is Netflix actually planning to return to return to its soapy, deadly Spanish teen series? Right now, all signs point to yes.

Most sites are touting a report published by Spanish site El Confidential as proof Elite season 2 is already greenlit and in production. The website claims Netflix renewed the series before it even premiered, which is great news. Yet, the El Confidential story lacks any named sources from Netflix or production, so it feels a bit like a rumor.

That’s why the more important suggestion Elite season 2 is on the way comes from a different Spanish publication: El Pais. The Madrid-based newspaper recently interviewed Erik Barmack, vice president of international originals at Netflix. Barmack sounds especially supportive of Elite, calling the high school murder mystery “one of the best series we have done this year” (at least according to the Spanish-to-English translation).

When it came time to talk about the prospects of another season, the Netflix VP had to be a little more mysterious, saying, “We have not decided [on season 2], but there is definitely room to continue the story. We are interested.”

That cautious response is nothing to worry about. Netflix traditionally takes its time in announcing a season renewal, and the Pais interview arrived a mere nine days after Elite’s debut. The streaming service took just about a month to confirm both the second and third season pickups for one of its biggest blockbusters, 13 Reasons Why. Fan-favorite Ozark wasn’t officially given a third season until over a month after its sophomore year premiered in August. The second season of beloved British series The End Of The F***ing World was announced eight months after the critical darling dropped in January 2018.

The fact that Barmack is even talking about Elite season 2 this soon is practically a miracle.

And, the Netflix exec is correct when he says there’s “room” to continue the YA soap’s story following finale “Episode 8.” While the season 1 closer wraps Elite’s first big mystery — who killed Marina? — it leaves de facto hero Samuel (Itzan Escamilla) at the very beginning of his journey. As we see in the finale, Samuel is overcome with guilt over recklessly telling police he saw his brother Nano (Jaime Lorente) running away from his girlfriend Marina’s bloodied body, heavily suggesting he's the killer. That single eyewitness report is now the lynchpin in the case against Nano, who didn’t actually commit the crime. If Nano goes to jail, it will be his little brother's fault.

Season 2 can easily follow Samuel’s quest to find the true killer of Marina, the girl both he and Nano loved. Elite seems to agree with this statement, since the final moments of “Episode 8” set up this exact storyline. In the finale, Samuel approaches Christian (Miguel Herrán), his longtime friend and Nano’s BFF, with the request to help him track down the real murderer. The only problem is, Christian already knows who the killer is, since his own future hinges on the cover-up plot. So, Christian abandons an emotional Samuel on a dock; the sole piece of evidence that could identity Marina's killer is submerged in the water below the teen boys.

This is a delightfully soapy reversal from the beginning of Elite, when Samuel and Christian, two Las Encinas newbies, were each other’s biggest allies at their expensive new school (Nadia was obviously far more interested in school work than friendship during the premiere). Now, unbeknownst to Samuel, he and Christian are complete rivals. Plus, Christian has completely stabbed his best friend in the back for a chance at fame and riches.

Shady alliances, Cruel Intentions-style machinations, and Spain’s answer to Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester)? It would be a crime for Netflix to deny us Elite season 2.