Hulu’s “Veronica Mars” revival hasn’t even premiered yet and already very excited Marshmallows are wondering whether or not the Kristen Bell-led drama’s return will be a limited series or an ongoing continuation.
So when TheWrap sat down with Hulu’s Senior Vice President of Originals, Craig Erwich, during the Television Critics Association press tour Monday, we had to ask if the return of the former-UPN-then-CW-drama is a one-and-done project for the streamer — or if there is the possibility of a Season 2.
“We’d be totally open to that,” Erwich told TheWrap. “We’ve ordered eight episodes,” he said, adding that the revival has “a proper, satisfactory narrative ending.” However, Erwich said, should creator Rob Thomas and “the creative come together for Season 2 and should people like it as much as we like it, totally open to that.”
During his executive session earlier in the day, Erwich told reporters Hulu wasn’t even looking to the the series in the first place, enter Thomas.
“What happened was that Rob Thomas came into our office and explained very passionately about why he wanted to do this and how he wanted to do this,” he said. “We’re not just doing it for the sake of doing it, we’re very strategic about those choices.”
The Hulu programming chief says the revival “is very true to the character, it is very true to the world, it’s true to the tone of the show — but it may be well above the show.” But he added that Veronica Mars (Bell) “is not a little girl anymore.”
“We’ll see her dealing with contemporary issues in a contemporary world,” he said.
When TheWrap later asked him to clarify if that meant the show will be darker — as Bell herself has said it will be — here’s what he said:
“It’s not [darker] because it’s on Hulu. It’s actually– Rob Thomas and Kristen felt like the natural way to evolve the show and the characters, regardless of platform, was to take it into an adult place, because she’s an adult now. It was not about writing towards a digital platform. They were writing towards the show and what they think the fans want to see. And I think the fans are going to like it.”
Erwich emphasized it’s a “grown up” show. “It’s a more adult world with adult problems and adult danger,” he said. “It feels like, if you were a fan of the original ‘Veronica Mars,’ you will like this.”
No launch date has been set for the “Veronica Mars” revival, but it’s expected to air later in 2019.
You can read everything we know about the project so far — including all the OG cast members returning to Neptune — here.
Tim Baysinger contributed to this story.