heartstopper
Credit: Netflix (3)

Warning: Light spoilers ahead.

If you’ve already binged Netflix’s supremely joyful teen romance Heartstopper, you’re undoubtedly looking forward to Season 2 as much as we are. If you haven’t, hop to it; it’s four hours and eight episodes of unadulterated happiness. Plus, you’ll have a much better understanding of the future teases we’ve gathered together after you’ve mainlined the series’ freshman run.

When Will We Get Season 2?

First, the good news: Not only did Netflix renew the drama for a second season, it renewed it for a third as well. Now, the bad: New episodes are unlikely to drop before 2023. Season 2 has begun casting, but filming has yet to get underway.

Here, Nick’s mum (Olivia Colman) wears the expression we did while watching the whole show.

Credit: Netflix

What’s Next for Charlie and Nick?

If you’ve read Alice Oseman’s beloved graphic novels, on which the series is based, you can answer that question for yourself. If you haven’t… well, we won’t divulge any plot specifics, but we will tell you that there may be some tough terrain ahead for high-school sweethearts Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor).

As Oseman, who also wrote the series, told Digital Spy, “I’ll definitely want to be bringing in the themes of mental health, because that’s something that’s really important in the books. The challenge of writing Heartstopper is exploring those darker issues while keeping the tone so optimistic and hopeful.”

More: What soaps could learn from Heartstopper

heartstopper-nick

Could Nick be looking at anyone but Charlie here?

Credit: Netflix screenshot

Will We Get a New Romance?

In Season 2, Cupid’s aim will point beyond our existing twosomes of Charlie and Nick, and Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell). Besides revealing whether Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney) will become more than friends — Season 1’s finale strongly hinted that her crush wasn’t unrequited — a romance is in store for Mr. Ajayi (Fisayo Akinade), aka Nick’s confidant and the best teacher ever. (Watch him drop truth bombs below.)

“In the books,” Oseman said, “there’s also Mr. Farouk, who comes in in Volume 3. And [he and Mr. Ajayi] have this kind of interesting friendship going on in the background that eventually becomes something more.”

Who’s Enrolling? Who Isn’t?

Season 2 will introduce the character of Sahar Zahid, who in the graphic novels is a classmate and pal our main characters. She’s described as being of Arabian descent, short and plus-sized, no-nonsense and occasionally a bit cynical.

Unlikely to turn up in Season 2 is Aled Last, who is part of Charlie and Nick’s friend group in the books. He was replaced in Season 1 by Tobie Donovan’s Isaac — not because Oseman had soured on him but because to include him would’ve meant ignoring the events of Radio Silence, the novel in which he is a main character.

Review some groundbreaking LGBTQ+ soap characters in the below photo gallery.

Video: YouTube/Netflix, Claireice