Spring into the world of Orbona as Season 2 of the animated adventure series WondLa has arrived on Apple TV+. The second season premiered on April 25 and brings seven new episodes to stream with a subscription. If you aren't caught up, you can watch all of the first season now! The series' episodes are broken up into chapters with Season 1 containing chapters one through seven while Season 2 contains chapters eight through fourteen!
If you're just now discovering the series and want to introduce it to your young ones, the show is an adaptation based on the sci-fi trilogy book series of the same name, which are all written by Tony DiTerlizzi for ages 9-10 and published by Simon Schuster. The series is about a teenager named Eva, who is taken care of by a robot caretaker named Muthr. After an attack on their bunker, Eva finds herself in Orbona and meets Otto, a tardigrade, and Rovender, an alien who accompanies her in finding other humans and her true destiny.
The main characters include Jeanine Mason (Roswell, New Mexico) as Eva, Micaiah Chen (Not Quite Narwhal) as young Eva, Teri Hatcher (Planes, Supergirl) as Muthr, Brad Garrett (High Desert) as Otto, Gary Anthony Williams (The Boondocks, Whose Line Is It Anyway?) as Rovender Kitt and Roshon, Chiké Okonkwo (La Brea) as Besteel, D. C. Douglas (Star Trek: Enterprise) as Omnipod, and Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Suburgatory) as Cadmus Pryde. The series is produced by Skydance Animation and The Gotham Group.
As WondLa enters its second season on the streamer, it continues to captivate audiences with its vivid worldbuilding, emotional depth, and timely themes of belonging and resilience. At the heart of the story are Eva and Rovender—an unlikely duo navigating a strange, post-human Earth and discovering the power of trust and chosen family along the way.
Mason and Williams bring Eva and Rovender to life through a compelling balance of heart, humor, and tension to the screen. In this interview, the two reflect on the evolution of their characters' relationship, voice acting in such an expansive universe, and what fans can expect in Season 2! Read on for more!
The Parent Watch: With WondLa being an adaptation, some people have high expectations, even from season one to season two. What did you expect once you also heard that there was going to be a second season. I'm sure you were excited!
GW: I live an excited life, and when I hear something like that, I get even more excited, you know?
With the first season, one of the best things they did—though I never asked them about it—was that they didn’t tell me why Rovender was the way he was. I didn’t know he had experienced such a great loss in his life. So, in my own head, I just thought, 'Okay, this guy doesn’t want to be bothered with her—he has more important things to deal with.' I always sensed there was an undertone, that something deeper was going on, but I didn’t quite know what it was.
When we finally got to the part where we see what actually happened to him—and you get to see him in his younger days, just a happy father and husband, a leader in his village—it explained so much about who he is now. That kind of backstory just adds so much. It helps inform everything about his journey moving forward.
In season two, we really get to see Eva step up and help him. It comes full circle—all the things he did for her, like taking her places and hiding her out—she gives that back to him. What she does for him in season two really opens up his vulnerability and rounds him out into an even more complete being.
Based on all the years that you spent voicing different characters, what makes Rovender different?
GW: Two things. First, we went through a lot just figuring out where his voice sits—both vocally and emotionally. When we first started recording, he was definitely rougher around the edges, with more of a creature-like voice than what we’ve settled on now. We actually recorded some episodes up to six different times as his voice evolved.
Also, there’s a lot of his own language—non-human language—that I had to learn. That added another layer to the process. So, it's really been a journey just getting him to where he is now, which kind of mirrors his own journey in the story.
The other layer of complexity comes from his backstory. Once we learn what he's been through, it explains why he's so tough on Eva at the beginning. He’s suffered deep loss—losing his family, his village, and the respect of those around him. So the way he treats people now comes from pain he’s never really dealt with. It's all been bottled up inside him. Eva is a big part of helping him along his journey.
What are the similarities between you and Rovender?
GW: I'm from a huge family. I have six sisters and two brothers, and my family means everything to me, and home means everything to me. Just leaning into that for sure is something. What will you do for people? Finding that group of people that you will do anything for and that will do anything for you, no matter what the cost, no matter when it is, no matter what time of day it is, and even if you can't, you will want to be there for them.
The other thing is I like to steal little pieces of my dad, who's no longer with us. For all my characters, that really means something to me. I get to steal some of my dad's qualities and put in his vocal qualities and his emotions towards things. That keeps my dad alive for me. It also brings more of a realness to it because I know Rovender helping Eva, part of why he doesn't want to help her, is just fear of losing somebody else.
I remember the day I left home—one of the only times I ever saw my dad shed a tear was that day, when I moved all the way across the country. It was that feeling of, “I know you have to go, but I don't want to see you go.” I get to stay close to my dad by bringing that emotion, that realness, into my work.
If you were placed into Orbona, how would you navigate the world?
GW: You know, first of all, I never got to see the full, complete world until I watched the first episodes. When you're recording, you're just doing the voice work first. They might show you a drawing of your character or the scene, but that’s about it. Like, if I'm talking to someone in a scene, I'll ask while recording, “How far away am I from them right now? Is there wind?” That kind of thing.
So it wasn’t until I started seeing footage from the first season that I thought, “Oh my gosh, this is beautiful.” It almost made me want to go back and do it all over again after seeing how rich it really is.
The fun part about Rovender is that, especially at the beginning, he lives off the land. He knows all that stuff—where to find the juiciest berries and fruit, the best juices to drink. I already love nature, so I could just imagine myself in that super-rich, colorful world. It seems like, even though life was tough for him, he was kind of escaping his own reality. But it just looks like such an amazing place to explore. I. I would like to be dropped off there for a week.
Jeanine, what has it been like to return to [playing Eva] character as you were recording?
Jeanine Mason: Oh, man! It's so fun!. It felt like going home and then also trying to layer in the aspect of the fact that she's grown now and trying to honor that, specifically with her vocal quality. She's still a person who's lost their mother and is an optimist and is committed to that and is empathetic and just leads with caring for people, but is also a little more prepared and physically able to handle the challenges ahead, and so she could take on more. I loved the way they upped a lot of the action sequences this season.
The stakes are definitely upped! What are your thoughts when seeing the animation team's work come to life?
JM: Oh my God, it's the best. It's so wild—you feel like you're in on a secret. I would come home and try to describe some things to my husband, and he'd be like, "This sounds insane," and I'm like, "I know!"
It's like that childhood magic factory—they're just able to tap into something so special, in every element. The visuals are insane. The sequences, the movement, the choreography—whatever it is—are just wild. But also, the lighting, the coloring, the music... Our composer, Joy [Ngiaw], who's been nominated for a bunch of awards for her work on the show—she’s incredible.
It’s just so fun. It's a different kind of collaboration than I’m used to, because I usually work directly with actors on a live-action set. But with this, you rarely see the other actors. Instead, there’s this constant receiving—each time you go in, you see a little more of the scene, a little more fully realized, with another artist’s work layered on top. It’s amazing. That does inform so much of what you do, then with your voice and in that session.
What's a piece of advice you’d give to someone who might feel like Eva—someone who's really enthusiastic, navigating life, and dealing with all this craziness in the world, both in the story and in real life?
JM: It's one of my favorite things about her: her optimism. I think it's worth it to be hopeful. She's reminded me—and I've definitely heard this from young fans of the show when I talk to them—how inspired they are by her ability to find community and connection, even in the most dire, depleted circumstances and landscapes.
That's such a beautiful message to share with young people: that no matter what season of life you're in, your next best friend could literally be just around the corner. It's worth it to put on your shoes, go outside, and take on the day—because the best is yet to come.
Check out the official Season 2 trailer below on Apple TV+'s YouTube channel!