Lara Croft is back in action as Netflix just revealed the first trailer for Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft season 2, and it amps up the stakes in every way.
There have been many video game heroines over the decades but there’s only one Lara Croft. Since the original Tomb Raider premiered in 1996, the gorgeous pistol-wielding archaeologist has been a mainstay for video game fans, dominating in merchandise and various adaptations. That included two movies starring Angelina Jolie as Lara, as well as a 2018 film starring Alicia Vikander.
The game franchise had actually been dormant in the late 2000s until a 2013 reboot with Camilla Luddington of Grey’s Anatomy as Lara. This imagined a younger Lara crashing on an island and fighting to survive the elements, mercenaries and a strange supernatural threat. It was a smash hit with two sequels in what's called the “Survivor” trilogy.
Netflix jumped into the franchise with 2024’s animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Picking up where the Survivor games left off, it follows an older Lara who tries to go on solo adventures to protect her friends. She’s drawn into a grander adventure, making her realize she needs help.
The show was a success, with Hayley Atwell a fantastic choice for Lara. Now a second season is coming that only looks to be more exciting than before!
Check out Lara’s new adventures
The trailer is classic Tomb Raider as Lara investigates a set of masks tied to Africa’s Orisha religion. Naturally, there’s more to the masks than there first seems, with some strange powers that a deadly techo-visionary wants. It’s up to Lara and her old friend Sam (Karen Fukuhara) to stop him.
The action is frantic and wild, including Lara investigating a shipwreck and fighting a shark; scaling a mountain with pickaxes straight out of the games; gunfights and chases; and facing some strange powers like teleportation. We also get the usual dry humor of Lara facing all of these threats in style. Here's the official logline for season 2:
"Lara races across the globe to uncover ancient African relics before a techno-visionary bent on playing god uses them to unleash worldwide destruction.”
The supporting cast has some new voices, including O-T Fagbenle as Eshu, as well as returning cast members Allen Maldonado as Zip and Earl Baylon as Jonah Maiava. The show also promises to focus on the history of the Orisha culture; history mixed into the adventure always fits this franchise.
It should be noted that this will be the show’s final season, as Amazon has now picked up the rights to the Tomb Raider franchise and is already prepping a new live-action series starring Sophie Turner as Lara. So fans of Lara Croft should check out the finale of her animated adventures on Netflix and enjoy the Tomb Raider in all her glory!
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft season 2 premieres December 11 on Netflix.