For the first time in their entire 20-year film career, the Wachowski Sisters are splitting up. Buzzfeed is reporting that Lilly Wachowski—who recently came out as a trans woman, after receiving pressure from journalists at The Daily Mail—won’t be involved in the second season of Netflix’s Sense8. Instead, her sister Lana will take over sole showrunning duties on the series, which focuses on a “cluster” of eight individuals who find themselves sharing a psychic, spiritual bond that stretches itself across the globe.
Wachowski’s absence—reportedly intended so that she can focus on her own well-being for a while— isn’t the only change coming when Sense8 returns for its second season next year (after a holiday special, set to air at Christmas 2016). Aml Ameen, who played would-be badass bus driver Capheus in the show’s first season, has also departed the series, reportedly over creative disagreements with Lana Wachowski. The part of Capheus has since been recast, with newcomer Toby Onwumere stepping into the role.
Sense8’s first season was apparently popular enough to net a renewal from the streaming service last August, even if it did wait a little longer than usual to placate the “we love psychic orgies” crowd. Cast members have promised that the second season will contain, “more sex, more violence, more of everything!”—except, presumably, more Wachowskis, since it’s now operating at half-Wachowski strength. (At least until a possible third season, when it’s been suggested that Lilly Wachowski might return.)