Spoilers for Selena: The Series ahead.
Twenty five years after Selena Quintanilla's tragic death, a new Netflix show is reviving her legacy for a 2020 audience. Selena: The Series, which
debuted on December 4, tracks the titular singer's rise from young Texas girl to the crowned queen of Tejano music. Christian Serratos (The Walking Dead, Twilight) plays the sequined superstar in Part 1 of the series, which depicts the early days of Selena's musical career. “I had to learn like 80 percent of the songs because it was a lot of her earlier music,” Serratos told ELLE of her preparation for the role. “I think people might watch the first season and be a little confused—I consider myself a die-hard Selena fan, but I was like, ‘I know nothing.’”
You can prepare to hear more more familiar hits in Selena: The Series Part 2, which has already been confirmed. The second installment will likely dive deeper into Selena's marriage to guitarist-turned-husband Chris Pérez (Jesse Possey) and her ill-fated meeting with Yolanda Saldívar (Natasha Perez), the woman responsible for her 1995 murder.
Ahead, everything we know about the second season, including when it could be released on Netflix.
A second season has already finished filming.
When news of the project first broke, it was confirmed that it would be a two-part limited series. The first half consists of nine episodes, but it's unclear how many will make up the second part. Season 1 ends around 1990 with the release of Selena's album, Ven Conmingo,and her family's discovery of her secret relationship with Pérez. The next season will likely feature the release of Selena's first English-language album and her 1992 elopement to Chris before her death.
There's no official release date for Selena: The Series Part 2.
Netflix has yet to confirm when viewers can expect the conclusion of Selena. However, Serratos confirmed to the Los Angeles Timesthat production had already wrapped—no COVID-19 delays here! Considering that timeline, season 2 could premiere in the first half of 2021. Worth noting: April 16, 2021 would've been Selena Quintanilla's 50th birthday, an event that may be tied to the season's release.
The finale leaves the Quintanilla family at a crossroads.
Throughout the first season, Selena explores how to embrace both her Mexican and American identities in her career. While climbing the Latin music charts at record label EMI, she's also fighting to make her first English-language record. There's also the battle to keep her romance with her band's guitarist Chris under wraps—if her father Abraham (Ricardo Chavira) finds out about their relationship, Chris would be fired.
Just as Selena's trying to protect her love, Abraham aims to protect her from over-eager fans by enlisting a full-time bodyguard. In the same conversation that determines Selena needs defense against rowdy crowds, her father enlists someone to run his daughter's fan club. Enter Yolanda Saldivar, a woman who declares herself Selena's number one fan and vows to run her fan club for free. Just as that character's presence looms over the finale, Abraham finds out about Chris and Selena's relationship. He's fired and kicked off the tour bus as tensions rise in the Quintanilla family.
Most of the cast will return.
By and large, the same cast from Selena season 1 will be back for the second season. The ensemble includes Serratos as Selena, Chavira as Abraham, Posey as Chris, Seidy Lopez as Selena's mother Marcella, Noemi Gonzalez as Selena's sister and drummer Suzette, and Gabriel Chavarria as Selena's brother and producer A.B. Natasha Perez's Yolanda will also play a larger role in season 2 as she gets closer to Selena's life and business.
Moisés Zamora (American Crime) returns as the series creator, writer, and executive producer alongside producers Jaime Dávila, Rico Martinez, and Simran A. Singh. Members of the real-life Quintanilla family are also involved with both seasons as executive producers, including Abraham and Suzette.
? Bidi Bidi Bom Bom ? @SelenaLaLeyenda’s incredible life story is coming to Netflix as a scripted series! @selena_netflix was developed alongside, and will be executive produced by, The Quintanilla family #NetflixNewsWeekpic.twitter.com/6YUMoAeA7Z
— Netflix Queue (@netflixqueue) December 11, 2018
The second season reportedly won't focus on Selena's death.
While audiences know how Selena's life ends, that tragic event won't cast a shadow over the entire second season. The show is a "celebration of Selena's life and not about her death," Perez, who plays Yolanda, told Entertainment Weekly:
The series isn't about her death. Yolanda is there to add tension to what's going on, but what's going on is so beautiful because it's an artist finding herself, an artist emerging and finding her place within her family, and society. Everyone was very careful with how it was all handled. Unfortunately, Yolanda is a part of Selena's tragic story. But the beauty of it all is how her legacy continues until today through her music, her art, and really, her whole life. Thanks to her, we can have this conversation today and celebrate a show about a Latina, starring and written by Latinos. It's a beautiful thing.
The real-life Yolanda Saldívar is currently serving a life sentence for Selena's murder in Texas, where she's eligible for parole in 2025. Perez told EW that while she initially wanted to visit Saldívar in prison for research, her respect for the Quintanilla family halted those plans. "I requested permission to meet her, but to honor the family we decided it would be best for me not to," she explained. "Instead, I spent so long scouring the internet finding anything I could about her. I also went to the library to try to see if I could get more information from Laredo, Tex., via microfiche."
Season 2 Selena will be "more of the icon."
The first season explores a young Selena's childhood introduction to music and her early days as an accomplished Tejana musician. But season 2 will focus more on the singer's megastardom, according to Serratos. "The first part was nerve-racking because there was less footage for me to base my performance on. But at the same time it was more relaxed, because I got more liberty. People don't know that version of Selena very much," she told OprahMag.com. "Our second part we're going to see a lot more of the icon. I had a lot more to base the performance on—but it was nerve-racking because people know that Selena so well. There was added pressure."
And just like the real-life Selena, Serratos did her own hair and makeup. "For season 2, I was like, 'I want to do it. Selena did her own makeup, I’m doing my own makeup,'" she told the Los Angeles Times.