Will Gaten Matarazzo host Prank Encounters season 2?

As soon as I learned that season 2 of the Netflix original Prank Encounters would start streaming on April 1, 2021, my first thought was, “I hope Gaten Matarazzo will return as host!”

And what more perfect day for the hilariously spooky series to return than April Fools Day, right?

I’m also not going to lie. Even though I was excited the scary hidden camera show was coming back, I was also surprised the hear it was returning for a second season.

I happened to think it was great. Then again, I’m a sucker for hidden camera shows. I felt Matarazzo did an outstanding job both as a host and the times he participated in the pranks, which if memory serves correctly, he really only “starred” in one prank, the very last episode.

Is Gaten Matarazzo hosting Prank Encounters season 2?

However, he appears in all of the episodes. He directs all of them and then pops out at the end to let the targets know it was just a joke. It was fun to see him shed his “Dustin” persona and get to know a different side of him.

In fact, last year I encouraged Stranger Things fans who were having withdrawals from the show to give Prank Encounters a chance. But, the show didn’t generate a lot of buzz and most critics panned it.

There was even some controversy where Matarazzo fans were mad at him and the show because they didn’t understand the targets of the pranks had only been hired on a temporary basis. They thought the poor souls had shown up expecting to start a new job only to find out it was all a joke, and they didn’t see anything funny about that.

That’s partly why I wondered if Gaten Matarazzo would return as host.

If you ever watched Scare Tactics, Prank Encounters is very similar to that. Unsuspecting people are set up in horrifying situations that end up being a joke they’re eventually let in on.

The keyword there is “eventually.”

However, in Scare Tactics, the unsuspecting victims were set up by friends or family members and there was usually only one target. In Prank Encounters, two strangers are hired for two separate jobs that both end up relating to the prank.

Henry Dittman, one of the actors who appeared in two episodes of the first season of Prank Encounters, “Urgent Scare” and “Face Fears,” and looks to be in season 2, as well, responded to a tweet I posted wondering if Matarazzo would be back.

However, if I’d been paying better attention to the trailers released on Netflix’s YouTube recently, I would’ve already had my answer.

Prank Encounters season 2 trailer

Watch Prank Encounters season 2 on April 1!