Ancient Apocalypse renewed for second season with Keanu Reeves

Netflix has confirmed a second season of the controversial Ancient Apocalypse series starring Graham Hancock, who will be joined by Hollywood bigwig Keanu Reeves. In Season 2 of the ITN Productions series, the British journalist and author heads to America to search for evidence to support his hypothesis that an advanced civilization was lost to history in the series of disasters that brought the last Ice Age to an apocalyptic end between 12,800 and 11,600 years ago. Each episode explores new discoveries being made in the American Hemisphere, which until recently have been largely underexplored by archaeologists interested in the origins of humanity. Episodes take place in New Mexico, Peru and Brazil, among others.

Matrix icon Reeves will join Hancock throughout the series, including discussing his insights into storytelling as an act of cultural preservation.

The series launched in 2022 and rated well, according to Netflix, but has not been without its controversy. According to The Guardian, indigenous groups in Arizona took issue with filming taking place in the state for Season 2, although ITN has said decisions on where to film were made by the team on an editorial basis. Season 1, meanwhile, led the Society for American Archaeology publish an open letter sent to Netflix content boss Bela Bajaria and ITN CEO Rachel Corp accusing the show of “publicly disparaging archaeologists and devaluing the archaeological profession on the basis of false claims and disinformation.”

Hancock said: “Exploring the mysterious origins of civilization has been my passion for many years. The Americas have remained largely unexplored in this context and my purpose in the series was to examine compelling new evidence that I hope might spark healthy debate in the archaeology community.”

Ian Russell, Head of International Programmes, ITN Productions, added: “Known as a disrupter who challenges traditional ideas about this period of history, Graham uses his skills as a journalist to talk to experts and indigenous communities to put his theory to the test.”