Mug shots of Erik Menendez in 2000 and 2002, following his arrest and conviction for the murder of his parents. Erik and his brother Lyle were convicted of killing their parents with shotguns in 1989. (Photo by Kypros/Getty Images)
Monster season 2 (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story) begins filming soon
Though we likely have a while until the second season of Monster season 2 comes to Netflix, we do have some exciting updates to share with our readers. The duo playing Erik and Lyle Menendez in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, also known as the second installment, has been announced, and we also know when filming is reported to begin!
According to a new report, the series is set to start filming the second installment on Dec. 12, 2023, and is scheduled to finish on Feb. 16, 2024. That’s great news for those waiting on the edge of their seats for the new season!
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story premiered on Netflix in Sept. 2022. The Netflix original series was created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan.
Season 1 starred Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer who murdered people in and around the Midwest from the end of the 1970s and into the 1990s. Despite public outcry and fair criticism about the show’s treatment of victims, Monster became the fourth most popular Netflix show ever behind Squid Game, Stranger Things, and Wednesday.
Whether you love it or hate it, Netflix decided to renew the show for two additional seasons, and in May 2023, the streamer shared more details about their plans. The next season will be titled Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, following the real-life convicted brothers.
Mug shots of Erik Menendez in 2000 and 2002, following his arrest and conviction for the murder of his parents. Erik and his brother Lyle were convicted of killing their parents with shotguns in 1989. (Photo by Kypros/Getty Images)
This post was last updated on Nov. 16, 2023. FanSided Entertainment’s Bryce Olin and Natalie Zamora contributed to this post.
Who are the Menendez brothers?
As the title suggests, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will follow the story of the infamous brothers, Lyle and Erik Menendez. The brothers were convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menedez, in the late 1980s. The case, understandably, was widely covered nationwide, and the trial was incredibly complicated. The brothers accused their father of abuse, but in the end, they were sentenced to life in prison.
As of 2023, the Menendez brothers are still serving time at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. They are both in their 50s. Though it hasn’t been confirmed, we can assume the Netflix show will chronicle the murder and the trial to follow. According to a report from Deadline, Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez will star in the series with Koch playing Erik and Chavez playing Lyle.
So far, Koch and Chavez are the only confirmed cast members for the new season. Now that casting is official, we’re sure the rest of the cast of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will be announced in the coming months. Considering the SAG-AFTRA strike is ending and filming is set to begin next month, expect the cast list to be revealed sooner rather than later.
- (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
- (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Where you’ve seen Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez before
If these two up-and-coming actors set to play the Menendez brothers look familiar, you’ve probably seen them in a show or movie. As for Koch (shown left above), he’s appeared in the show Power Book II: Ghost, along with the movies Swallowed and They/Them. As a child, he played a minor role in the 2007 movie Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.
Chavez (shown right above), is best known for playing Spencer Cassadine in General Hospital, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Young Performer in a Drama Series. Apart from that, he’s only appeared in one other title, a movie called Crushed. Though both actors are fresh to the scene, we’re sure their roles in the Netflix series will catapult them to the spotlight.
Netflix shared a quick teaser to give us a glimpse at what we can expect. It doesn’t feature any footage from the show, as nothing’s been filmed yet, but it still gives us an idea of the show’s aesthetic:
When could the new season come out?
Despite Netflix announcing that Monster season 2 would be released in 2024, that was before the WGA strike and the SAG strike began. In early May, the contract between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) expired, and they went on strike before coming to an agreement in September. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) also went on strike against the AMPTP in July, which is coming to a close this November.
All of this is to say that production for the second season was delayed. It was reported that they were supposed to begin filming in September, but of course, that couldn’t happen with the actors on strike. Now that we know they’ll start shooting in December, we have a better idea of when we might be able to expect the release. But is a 2024 date still possible? It’s going to be a close one.
The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was released in late September in time for spooky season, so it’s possible Netflix had been planning for The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story to come out around the same time of the year in 2024. That said, with filming slated to begin in the final month of 2023, we believe it’s safe to predict an early 2025 release date for season 2. It’s possible Netflix could try and fit it in for late 2024, but we’ll have to wait and see if that’s possible.
Release Prediction: Early 2025
We’re getting more Monster beyond just season 2
With the popularity of Monster, Netflix almost immediately renewed the series for two more seasons. The series premiered in Sept. 2022, and Netflix announced the multi-season renewal in November of that year. That’s a quick turnaround for a Netflix renewal!
The Watcher season 2 was also announced at the same time that Monster was renewed. At this time, no one knows what the second season of that show will be about.
Netflix also confirmed that Monster will be an anthology series, meaning that the audience will be getting a different serial killer story in each season. In a press release, the platform shared that the series will continue to tell stories about “other monstrous figures who have impacted society.” The series will likely focus on different serial killers from American history and their victims moving forward.
We don’t know which serial killer(s) the third season of Monster will cover yet.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – FEBRUARY 19: Ryan Murphy recipient of the Distinguished Collaborator Award, attends The 21st CDGA (Costume Designers Guild Awards) at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 19, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for CDGA)
In other news, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Murphy took a $300 million deal with Netflix back in 2018, and the contract expired at the end of June 2023. So what does that mean for Murphy’s existing shows on Netflix, specifically Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story?
Reportedly, Murphy will stay on Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez and The Watcher season 2 as a producer while creating new titles for Disney. If we hear of that changing, we’ll be sure to update this post.
That’s all we know about Monster season 2 so far. We’ll let you know more information about the new installment when we find out!
