Hey all you cool cats and kittens, it's time to strap in for another royally wild ride: Tiger King is back.
Joe Exotic pleads his case from behind bars in Tiger King 2, premiering Thursday, Nov. 17, on Netflix. "There's an innocent man in prison," Joe says in the shocking trailer. "Everybody from the zoo is out there making money, and I'm paying the price for every one of them people."
Turns out, he's right, at least partly: Zoo owner Jeff Lowe confirms that the series "changed our lives overnight," leading him to make "more money than God."
Yet, everything comes with a price.
Season one of Tiger King premiered in March 2020, introducing the world to big-cat lover Joe Exotic and his main competitor, Carole Baskin. The cultural event of the year took over Hollywood, spurring an after show, multiple miniseries and celeb cosplay. The popularity of the record-breaking, Emmy-nominated Netflix series even brought new federal charges for the zookeepers featured.
While Joe has been serving a 22-year prison sentence for two different murder-for-hire plot counts after allegedly attempting to hire two hit men to try to kill rival Carole, the big cat world has moved on without him—and authorities have been closing in to uncover the true story behind the Tiger King saga.
"When you think you've seen it all, you haven't quite seen it all," a voice-over warns in the trailer.
From paranoid zookeepers to sex, drugs and guns, the claws are ready to come out.
Jeff states, "The plot to kill Carole was built on lies," as the focus shifts to uncover what really happened to Carole's first husband, Don Lewis.
"Carole knows something," a former colleague hints in the trailer, citing Don's "shady character" contacts in Costa Rica.
It's unclear whether Carole herself will be present in the second installment; the season 29 Dancing With the Stars competitor previously told Page Six she wouldn't be participating in future Tiger King episodes, but she is prominently featured in the first-look trailer.
The five-episode series is co-produced and directed by Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode, with Chris Smith and Fisher Stevens serving as executive producers. Tiger King 2 teases that "newfound revelations emerge on the motivations, backstories, and secrets of America's most notorious big cat owners," with Jeff, Tim Stark, Allen Glover, and James Garretson returning on-camera.
Season one staple Erik Cowie, who once worked for Joe Exotic, will not be making an appearance; he was found dead at a New York City residence earlier this month at the age of 52.
Tiger King 2 may also follow Joe's re-sentencing after a court vacated his 2020 sentence, ruling that the pair of murder-for-hire plot counts should have been grouped as a single conviction.
"If I have to make a deal with the Devil, I will make a deal with the Devil," Joe sums up.
Watch the trailer above to see why there's no taming this beast of a story.
Tiger King 2 premieres Wednesday, Nov. 17 on Netflix.