Despite the fact that Julie and the Phantoms has been delighting viewers for two weeks now, Netflix still has not declared it renewed for a season two.
We can't explain that, but we are here to talk about what might happen in a hypothetical season two—with a little help from the cast.
Julie and the Phantoms follows Julie (Madison Reyes), a high school girl grieving the death of her mother, who discovers that her garage used to be the home studio of a band called Sunset Curve. Back in 1995, the band—consisting of Luke (Charlie Gillespie), Reggie (Jeremy Shada) and Alex (Owen Patrick Joyner)—ate some bad hotdogs and all died just before they got to play a major gig at the Orpheum Theater, and now they're ghosts. Only Julie can see these ghosts unless they're playing music with her, so of course they start a new band that helps Julie find her music again while the band still gets to play, even after death.
In the finale, the band thought they had completed their unfinished business and would be able to cross over after finally playing the Orpheum, but it didn't work, and now they're still having to battle Caleb (Cheyenne Jackson), the head ghost who wants to sign them to an eternal contract to perform at his ghost club. Still with us?!
The first season also flirted with a romance between Julie and Luke, as well as Alex and Willie (Booboo Stewart), though both romances are up against a few obstacles. First off, Julie is a living human and Luke is a ghost. Alex and Willie are at least both ghosts, but Willie is already indebted to Caleb and might be on the wrong ghostly side.
Then there's Reggie. He's just trying to become pals with Julie's dad and brother, only it's not working because Reggie is, again, a ghost. But now that Julie's younger brother Carlos (Sonny Bustamante) has confirmed that ghosts exist, maybe he's actually got a chance!
We asked the cast about all of this and more, and they had some thoughts to share.
Reyes on the slow burn of Julie and Luke: "I'm excited to see where the relationship goes, especially [because] we didn't just go right away with the two of them getting together or anything like that. It wasn't your typical like 'Girl meets guy, guy and girl fall in love.' There was struggle. There was challenge. They know that it's not right and that it's not gonna work out but the fact that they can push aside everybody else's thoughts and just kind of care about each other for what their soul is and who they are and what they represent and project out into the world is amazing. And I feel like we should establish that especially for younger people to know that you don't have to necessarily rush things. It's better to just get to know a person. Also, you should listen to what people have to say, but if your heart is telling you this, and you've got that gut feeling, then just go for it."
Gillespie on writing the song "Perfect Harmony" with Reyes: "As actors, as cast mates, and as friends we got together and we were like running off set like when we had a minute and started composing. And it really really opened up a cool little space for us because we get to feel how Julie and Luke actually connect when they're writing you know...It was beyond really what we expected but it was a really cool experience."
Joyner on Alex and Willie: "I wanted a lot more, are you joking me? Getting to play off Booboo Stewart? Come on! I hope he comes back and I know that [the showrunners] have said a couple of ideas to me but I hope we go on more adventures. Just because Booboo is awesome and I know we all got really really close and I'm sure he'd be, I'm sure he'd be willing to come back so I hope he comes back and I hope he has a little bit more to do with the good side this time."
Stewart on Alex and Willie: "If there's a season two, I definitely think there would be a chance for them, I really do. There it's too strong of a connection and too strong of a bond for it to just fall to the wayside. I think making it work is something that's really interesting...our scenes together felt very, very close, very just like in tune. And I think ignoring that connection would wouldn't be right, and it would be sad to see it go to the wayside so I definitely think that there's a lot to discover there and a lot to dive into."
Shada on Reggie's future and possible backstory: "There's little breadcrumbs of it in season one, but if we get to do [season two], I think we'll see some of hopefully Reggie's family and see his brother. We haven't figured out where they're all at because he still has he hasn't found them yet. I think we'll definitely get to play around more with the idea of Reggie almost kind of becoming part of the Molina family a little bit, especially with the Carlos relationship, her little brother. I think there might be some stuff there with kind of him getting into some mischief with Carlos, now that Carlos knows that the band are actually ghosts."
Jackson on what more there is to learn about Caleb: "I feel like we've just barely scratched the surface. I mean, there's just been hinting at his past. There's so many questions I have. I've made my own decisions for who I think he is and why I think he is the way he is...I want to know exactly how I died. I want to know how I got to be kind of this impresario of the nightlife and also what is my obsession with this band and these guys and what do, what do they represent for me? I think there's a lot of cool, cool stuff that can be mined there."
And does he know what on earth he did to Nick, Julie's former crush, at the end of the finale?
"What you saw is exactly all that I know as well," he said. "I just know that I was told all will be revealed in season two."
Hit play on all the videos above to hear more from the cast—including their story about the instant connection the band had IRL! Gillespie can also be seen on upcoming episodes of E's BingE! Club and The Rundown on Snapchat.
Julie and the Phantoms is now streaming on Netflix.