EXCLUSIVE: Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly tease ‘beautiful chaos’ in Dark Matter season 2

Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly return for season 2 of Blake Crouch’s hit sci-fi series, Dark Matter. Following the events of season 1, Dark Matter follows physicist Jason (Edgerton), his wife Daniela (Connelly), and their son Charlie (Oakes Fegley) as they travel the Multiverse in search of a new world to live in.

In an interview with Digital Trends, Edgerton and Connelly discussed working together again on Dark Matter. They also broke down what fans can expect for the show’s second season and what new challenges their characters will face.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Digital Trends: What was it like returning to the series for season 2 and working together again? 

Connelly: Fantastic. It was great. I was very happy to come back and work with Joel and have more time actually with the couple. The original version of the couple who, in season one, you meet them, and they have a couple scenes together, and then they’re apart until the very end, where they have this very fraught reunion. So it was really fun to have time with that couple of them [and to] get to know who they were and who they’d become.

Digital Trends: Yeah, they go through a lot together, and there’s a new season, and it looks like that their relationship has a lot of challenges. They’re traveling the multiverse together, and they’re trying to hide from all these different forces closing in on them. Do you ever expect Jason and Daniela to find happiness somewhere in some other universe?

Edgerton: You know, it’s funny, I look at them and go, “I think you guys just get to Chicago, try and get on an airplane. Go to Tahiti. Greece. So I would like to shoot that episode. Look, I think they’re going to find a place.

What’s great about the challenge for Blake of writing the episodes is every time they go to a new world, there’s like a checklist for things [they] are going to do. 

It’s like: Find out not only is there’s another version of Jason, [if] there’s another version of Daniela there or Charlie. Can they avoid that? How do they get into that world with identification, and how do they find money? All these complications. How do they find work? How [do] they find a house? 

So there’s sort of these hoops [that] they got to jump through. And all the while they’re going to be kind to each other. I feel like Jason is constantly dealing with his guilt. He’s like, “I got us into this mess, sort of.” So I have hope that they’ll find that.

There’s a place we find in season 2 that’s kind of cool, and I don’t give spoilers away that there’s a couple of worlds they find. Some are not good, but one of them particularly seems to be okay. I’m not going to spoil it.

Digital Trends: All right. So what was the most exciting part about filming this season? Was there anything particularly challenging about it as well?

Connelly: There are things that are more challenging, practically, or more uncomfortable, like that tornado world we went to. Rain machines and wind machines. And then there are things like, I had the experience of the season of working with myself, which is super peculiar. That’s something I’d never done before. Nothing unexpected happens. It’s so weird.

Digital Trends: Overall, what can fans of this show expect from season 2? And in your opinion, how is it compared to season 1? 

Edgerton: There’s a sort of a beautiful chaos to season 2. Sort of this world and endless possibilities, with a number of characters, and kind of following these journeys of different characters, and literally this multitude of possibilities for each of them. 

So there’s a certain chaos that is harnessed in season 2 that makes sense of the technology. And in a way, the whole purpose of season 2 is to also underline that, on one hand, the new technology creates a sense of chaos and demands that human beings really intentionally choose how they will use something.

And in the case of us, as a family…do we use it to escape? Do we use it to find it a home and then shut it down? So, I think fans can hope for a real deeper explanation, exploration, rather, of the characters that they met in season 1. The same wild spectacle, but a pinch of extra madness and chaos. 

Connelly: Yeah, I always said the same. I think things are just amplified. All the elements that were in the show in season 1 are amplified here. So I think that the world exploration is even more spectacular. 

I think that the show always had really entertaining, playful elements, and I think there’s even more playfulness in those aspects. And then there was also always this sort of domestic drama. I think that aspect goes even deeper here in season 2. So, yeah, I think everything’s just a little extra.

Digital Trends: Yeah, I’ll say. So do you see yourself working together on a third season of this series? 

Edgerton: No, not there anymore, man.

Digital Trends: Really?

Edgerton: Well, look, you know, the thing about television is…the fans love it, then there’ll be more, and it means that we feel appreciated. We certainly all enjoy working with each other. It’s a really great atmosphere, and…I don’t feel like there’s squeaky wheels on Dark Matter too. 

Everybody rolls this, leaves up, and pitches in and works really hard and appreciates and looks after each other. So the feeling amongst the group is that we’re a big family and we enjoy that work experience. Then it’s over to you guys. It’s over to the fans, and if the fans love it and they call for more, then we’ll probably deliver it.

Digital Trends: Amazing. So is there anything else that you’d like to say to the fans? 

Connelly: I hope that fans enjoy it and have a great time. Yeah, we love making the show, and I had a great time working on it and collaborating with everyone, and we hope that the fans enjoy it. It’s always good to know. I think some of the feedback from fans in season 1 was really special, and I know Blake is very smart to be receptive to the response. 

Edgerton: And sometimes that means fans…they’ll let you know what they expect of certain characters. And I think it’s Blake’s job to kind of help deliver the expectations, but also surprise an audience. So these prize fans can often help activate the shaping of a show themselves with their own feedback.

Dark Matter season 2 premieres on Apple TV on August 28.