One of Marvel’s bloodiest and wildest heroes is back with Hit-Monkey season 2. The Hulu animated show adapts Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajić’s Marvel comic of the same name, in which the titular Japanese macaque has his whole tribe wiped out by mercenaries looking to kill assassin Bryce Fowler. The rest of season 1 followed Monkey being mentored by Bryce’s ghost and heading into the Tokyo criminal underworld to get revenge for the murder of his tribe, all while crossing paths with honest police officer, Haruka, and Akiko, the ambitious niece of a rising politician.

Hit-Monkey season 2 picks up immediately after the events of the previous season, with Monkey and Bryce venturing to New York City as the former goes on the run and must find a way to clear his name. The new season also sees Bryce connecting Monkey with his former assassin agency, led by Eunice (Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live), and Monkey pushing for Bryce to try and reconcile his relationship with his daughter, Iris (Cristin Milioti, The Penguin). Along the way, the duo will contend with Akiko, looking for revenge against Monkey for her uncle’s death and now donning the Lady Bullseye moniker.

Fred Tatasciore returns to lead the ensemble Hit-Monkey season 2 cast in the titular role alongside Jason Sudeikis as Bryce, Ally Maki as Haruka, Olivia Munn as Akiko, Jones, Milioti, Reiko Aylesworth, Rob Corddry, Keith David and Jim Gaffigan. Once again run by Oscar-nominated duo Will Speck and Josh Gordon, the Hulu Marvel show ups the ante with its worldbuilding while also not forgetting the emotional stakes for its characters.

In anticipation of the show’s return, Screen Rant interviewed Fred Tatasciore to discuss Hit-Monkey season 2, the long wait for the Marvel title’s second season, what to expect from Monkey and Bryce’s dynamic, why the show is his favorite project overall, and the potential for season 3.

Tatasciore “Kept Hoping” For News Of Hit-Monkey Season 2

Though the first season garnered largely positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, Hit-Monkey season 2’s confirmation didn’t come until nearly two years after its original premiere. For Tatasciore, this wait proved a tough one, as the show is “one of my favorite projects” and he “kept hoping, hoping, hoping” they would get a second season:

Fred Tatasciore: First of all, thank you. I’m so glad you love it, it is one of my favorite projects. Seeing it all come together, I’m so excited about this show. It has all the craziest elements in it, between the comedy and the supernatural, and just everything. So, for me, two surprises were happening there. In this business, when you wait a long time, and you just don’t know what goes through or not, I just kept hoping, hoping, hoping we’re gonna get another one, but you don’t hear, you don’t hear, you don’t hear. I kind of kept it on the backburner saying, “Oh, man, we have another story, we have so much more to tell.” And then when I found out that it was greenlit, I felt a celebration, I was just so happy to hear it. We all were. So, there’s that element.

The other one that I tell people that’s funny, from the first season, I had worked on it, and I worked sort of solo. I don’t get to work with the cast, unfortunately, I’d love to. But so, I read the scripts, I get the sense of the comedy and the timing, but I had no idea how funny it was going to be. Jason Sudeikis brings in these quips, the writing is already funny, but he surprises me with all the great jokes and all the comments. And, remember, I’m the sort of sad [character]. The Monkey, ironically, is the sad, straight man, he’s full of pathos, and there’s not much irony to him. He’s sad, and he hates the killing. So, it’s very interesting to see how I ended up working one end of it, but then seeing it all together, it was a whole other experience. I just loved it. Like he’s just he’s a very moving, sad character. You know what I mean? I love him. But I didn’t realize just how wacky what he was facing, and that’s to Jason’s credit, too, and the writers.

Despite the fairly quick turnaround time between the greenlight and production, Tatasciore had the ability to see some of the experimental and stylish animation the creative team wanted to bring to the bigger and bolder season 2, and found himself amazed by what the team was aiming for, even when some of it was still in just the animatic stages:

Fred Tatasciore: Most definitely, I didn’t always see the finished product. Because sometimes, what I do is I come in and I do post stuff. We record things before, like a radio play, or looking at an animatic, which is the animated storyboard. And then sometimes, they fleshed it all out, and then I’m going to follow it. So, I got to see it all in the different stages, which was great, especially in the beginning, and toward the end there — we had to do a lot of recording of just random things to get it all cleaned up. And that’s when I saw the animation put together, and I was like, “Wow.”

But until I got sent the episodes, I never saw the magic, like of all the humor and the crazy animation that is in this, and terrifying characters. I did the first season, so I was kind of well-versed in what the world was by the time I started the second one, but it was very interesting to see it all come together. Like I said, in the beginning, I was just playing such straight drama, and just trying to sell the drama as the Monkey and I had no idea how insane it was actually going to be. Season 2, I knew the stories better, I knew what was going to happen, but I just didn’t realize the other character arcs that were going on

Playing Monkey’s Emotional Moments Is A Unique Challenge For Tatasciore

While the show takes a largely comedic approach to its tone and story, Hit-Monkey is certainly not averse to more emotional moments, with season 2 in particular finding him grappling with the morality of his killings and eager to move on from the life of an assassin. Tatasciore recalls the unique challenge of “trying to extract” those emotions, as well as communicate what the ghost version of Bryce is sharing to his character to the alive people in his vicinity, particularly praising the “insane” editing for finding the right beats for his vocal work:

Fred Tatasciore: That’s a great question. First of all, his arc is amazing, because he’s dealing not only with Hell, and the Devil, but his daughter. And then he’s got an Ebenezer Scrooge element, where he gets to hear [everything]. He’s a dead guy, a ghost getting to hear everyone complain about him, and it’s hilarious, because he can’t defend himself. And the Monkey is his only contact through. I mean, he has powers, he can do telekinetic [things], he can do some great ghosty stuff. “Casper, the friendly ghost crap.” [Laughs] But, yeah, the Monkey, for me, to be doing the sounds is another thing. Trying to extract what he says in so many grunts, and then commenting on what he says. My job is a very strange job. It’s kind of part musical, it’s like I show up with a broken saxophone, and here’s what I have to express.

So, usually, when I make [Monkey sounds], I know what I’m saying while I’m doing it. They edited it brilliantly, though, because I don’t get to work off of him. So when I see what they did, and they put the grunt perfectly, “What are you talking about?” “[Grunt].” “That’s what I said.” They really got the rhythm down, the comic rhythm down, so brilliantly, the editing is insane. So for me, as a performer, the Monkey knows that he’s the in-between, and has his own feelings and comments what he says, in comments to the ghost, but also the ghost, he has to be able to give maybe the nicest version of what the ghost said. He’s not going to agree with Bryce, and he’s not going to say everything that Bryce says, obviously. But there’s going to be a little bit of an attempt at a translation. It’s a very different kind of job, it really is, and I treasure it.

Bryce “Definitely Understands” Monkey (& Tatasciore Has A Perfect Star Wars Comparison)

Where much of season 1 saw the characters having a unique odd couple dynamic, in which only one could understand the other, Hit-Monkey season 2 finds Bryce and Monkey seemingly communicating with one another much smoother, even with the latter’s lack of actual dialogue. Tatasciore feels that the duo have found a relationship akin to that of Star Wars‘ R2-D2 and C-3PO, in which “they are in complete cahoots” and that their “psychic, spiritual connection” allows them to understand each other now:

Fred Tatasciore: Oh, most definitely. He definitely understands the Monkey, they are in complete cahoots. They really are, they have a psychic, spiritual connection. It’s an R2-D2/C-3PO [relationship], they completely know what’s going on, and he knows what’s what. [Chuckles] He’s so connected to me, and it’s a buddy movie, in many ways. They are a team, really a great team together, but he knows how the Monkey feels, and he feels bad for the Monkey. He does, he really is like, “Yeah, but hey, man, this is life. This is what you got to do.” I can’t go where he goes, because of his darkness and his cynicism. My arc is I would like to end all this. We have a job to do, definitely, but I don’t take a great joy in it. Unless I get on fire, and I can’t stop myself. [Chuckles] And he knows that, Bryce knows that.

They’re a real friendship, it’s a real connection. Not just they don’t want to be together, there’s definitely love. I don’t want to get to choked up. But there’s a scene where you get that between the two of them. There was a wonderful friendship that blossoms. Yeah, they’re almost like family, it’s beautiful. In the midst of all the chaos, violence and humor, that’s what I love about the show. It’s like, how can you have something be so moving and just be downright hilarious on one end, it’s a comedy, and then it’s a real actioner, literally pulling no punches, or the scary piece of business at the same time. It’s got like three or four worlds. [Chuckles]

Tatasciore Has Not Heard About Hit-Monkey Season 3 (But “I Think We Have To“)

Much like its predecessor, Hit-Monkey season 2 ends on a pretty major cliffhanger for a potential season 3, namely one that will involve a major dynamic change between Bryce and Monkey. Though Tatasciore has not heard any updates from the powers that be about whether season 3 is moving forward, he remains hopeful it will happen, even expressing that “I think we have to“:

Fred Tatasciore: No, I hope so, because I want to see what happens. Without a spoiler alert. I don’t want to spoil this, but this is now very different where we leave the show. [Laughs] I think we have to. I’m so excited about it that I hope we do. Your lips to God’s ears that we get to do this, you know, but I think the audiences will really [love it], I’m not just trying to push it. I think people will really love it, and also just entertaining. Like, I’m watching it for the content, and then I find myself pulled out, laughing out loud, not expecting to laugh. It just comes in when you don’t expect it.

About Hit-Monkey Season 2

In New York City, Monkey finds a path to escape his life of killing, while Bryce attempts to repair the damage to those he wronged in life. But what will it cost them to undo the past?

A Japanese snow monkey, aided by the ghost of an American assassin, goes on a killing-spree, and becomes the famous “killer of killers.”

Stay tuned for our other Hit-Monkey season 2 interviews with:

• Ally Maki
• Will Speck and Josh Gordon

Hit-Monkey season 2 is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+!

Source: Screen Rant Plus