Mara Brock Akil’s hit romance returns with a time jump, new faces, and a question worth asking: can exes really be friends?
Netflix’s Forever is back in business. Production has officially begun on Season 2 of Mara Brock Akil’s critically embraced romance series, and this time around, things look a little different.
The new season picks up four years later, post-pandemic, with Keisha Clark (Lovie Simone) and Justin Edwards (Michael Cooper Jr.) living separate lives — new relationships, real jobs, and the kind of adulthood they were just beginning to imagine at the end of Season 1. That is, until a chance run-in during the summer of 2023 forces them to reckon with everything they thought they’d moved past. The central question driving Season 2: can exes really be friends?
“We are home — back in Los Angeles, back inside a love story that keeps revealing itself. This time, through friendship,” creator and showrunner Mara Brock Akil said. “Every choice feels final, even though it’s your first time being truly grown.”
Three new cast members are joining the fold. Malaika Guttoh comes aboard as a series regular, playing a character named Ameena. Avery Wills Jr. (Swagger, Shooting Stars) joins in a recurring capacity as Jaden, and Tre McBride (Fight for ’84) rounds out the new additions as Elijah.
Returning series regulars Karen Pittman, Wood Harris, and Xosha Roquemore will also be back as Justin’s parents and Keisha’s mother, respectively.
On the music side, Grammy Award-winning Khris Riddick-Tynes joins as Executive Music Producer, with Kier Lehman returning as Music Supervisor and original music once again provided by Until Tomorrow.
Season 2 will consist of eight episodes and continues filming in Los Angeles. Forever is a reimagining of Judy Blume’s beloved Young Adult novel and is executive produced by Akil alongside Regina King, Susie Fitzgerald, Reina King, and Erika Harrison.