Anya Taylor-Joy Making An Unexpected Return To Her Most Popular Role?

Anya Taylor-Joy hints that she's returning to the role of Beth Harmon in another season of The Queen's Gambit.

By Zack Zagranis | Updated

Anya Taylor Joy Queens Gambit
Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit

Anya Taylor-Joy teased The Queen’s Gambit season 2 on Twitter earlier today, to the delight of fans everywhere. The Twitter account @FilmUpdates posted a picture of a tweet by Anya Taylor Joy herself, where the actress simply wrote, “The Queen’s Gambit 2.” The original tweet has since been deleted.

https://twitter.com/FilmUpdates/status/1620070057480187906?s=20&t=aFcBgnnohM0KzKH3WCoEkA

Anya Taylor-Joy is just one of several celebrities to get so overzealous in their excitement over a new project that they leak info about the project prematurely. The most likely scenario is that Netflix wasn’t ready to announce the second season of The Queen’s Gambit quite yet and asked the actor to delete her tweet.

The Netflix original proved to be one of the most successful shows in the streaming services’ history, making a second outing all but inevitable. Then again, director and executive producer Scott Frank did tell Deadline he was hesitant to make a sequel to the Emmy-winning original. As Frank put it: “I feel like we told the story we wanted to tell, and I worry — let me put it differently — I’m terrified that if we try to tell more, we would ruin what we’ve already told.”

Of course, creators claiming that there will be no follow-up to their original work and then changing their minds is a regular occurrence in Hollywood. One example includes Joker director, Todd Philips, who was adamant about not making a sequel to the clown prince of crime’s exploits only to go back on his word with the announcement of Joker: Folie à Deux. It’s entirely possible that Frank had an idea too good to pass up to bring Anya Taylor-Joy back for The Queen’s Gambit 2.

Anya Taylor Joy Queens Gambit
Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit

Anya Taylor-Joy has plenty to keep her busy if the now-deleted tweet does turn out to be false. The Queen’s Gambit star has had no shortage of projects since her breakout Netflix role. In the two years since Gambit, Anya Taylor-Joy has delighted audiences as Sandie in the Edgar Wright thriller Last Night in Soho, as well as starring as Margot in the acclaimed horror film The Menu.

Anya has a lot more on her plate as far as upcoming projects beyond The Queen’s Gambit. Next up for the actress is the voice of Princess Peach in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, coming out later this year. The Witch star also snagged the role of a young Furiosa in the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel of the same name, rumored to be coming out sometime in 2024.

Of course, it’s Anya’s star-making turn as Beth Harmon that fans want to see more of. Anya herself has expressed in the past that she is open to revisiting the role and never ruled out a Season 2 like Scott Frank. If the fan response to the initial tweet is any indication, Netflix would be crazy not to produce a second season of The Queen’s Gambit.

It’s no secret that Netflix has been canceling shows left and right to try and combat the streaming giant’s financial woes. Perhaps the answer lies in more shows, not less, specifically a second season of one of their biggest hits of all time. Let’s hope for the fans’ sake Netflix goes ahead with Anya Taylor-Joy’s return to The Queen’s Gambit before they’re forced into a checkmate by the competition.