Michael Jonathan Smith, the co-creator and showrunner of the Peacock post-apocalyptic action comedy series Twisted Metal, recently spoke about why certain characters, like Jason Mantzoukas‘ Preacher, will not appear in Season 2 of the show. Twisted Metal premiered on July 27, 2023, and all 10 episodes of its inaugural season were released in bulk. However, the sophomore season, which debuted on July 31, 2025, will air weekly.
Smith explained in an interview with ScreenRant that scheduling issues and attempts to find a way to accommodate the show’s big cast eventually led to the decision to leave out Preacher and several other characters in the second chapter. “There were some characters from season 1 that I really wanted to bring back, but because of scheduling and because of how big our cast was, we ended up shifting it around a little bit,” Smith said.
Notably, Twisted Metal is an adaptation of the vehicular combat video game franchise of the same name from Sony Interactive Entertainment. Season 2 will revolve around Calypso’s upcoming tournament, and the psychotic killer clown Sweet Tooth will be a pivotal part of the narrative. Although Peacher and a few other characters will be absent, Smith teased that they can return in the prospective Season 3. “There’s an idea that I’m not gonna spoil… but there is something that I’m saving for next season for sure, God willing,” he said.
From what Smith stated, it appeared that he and his collaborators might have faced some issues regrouping the cast for the second season. That makes sense given how prominently active some of those actors are these days. Perhaps, if and when Season 3 goes into production, scheduling might not become a major concern.
The cast of Twisted Metal includes Anthony Mackie as John Doe, Will Arnett (voice) as Sweet Tooth, and Anthony Carrigan as Calypso.