Five things we learned about what’s in store on ‘This Is Us’

TV
Aug. 3, 2017, 3:15 p.m.

Five things we learned about what’s in store on ‘This Is Us’

Yvonne Villarreal

It’s almost time to dust off that box of tissues.

Breakout hit “This Is Us” returns for its second season on Sept. 26. And while there are no solid new clues to add to the Jack’s-death conspiracy theory roundups, we learned a few things about what’s in store when the cast and creator, Dan Fogelman, took the stage at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills.

Prep those eyes:

--When the show returns ...

Season 2 will pick up the day after the fight -- in the past. In the present day, things open with the siblings, Kevin (Justin Hartley), Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown), celebrating their 37th birthday. For those who don’t recall, the Season 1 premiere kicked off with their 36th birthday.

--Sylvester Stallone will guest star

The “Rocky” actor will play a costar/fatherly figure to Kevin on the feature film he’s working on. Go ahead, process that. As of now, Stallone is slated to appear in one episode. (Diehard “Rocky” fans may recall that Milo Ventimiglia played Stallone’s son in “Rocky Balboa,” and the pair’s friendship helped facilitate bringing him to “This Is Us.”)

-Viewers will get a little more back story on the adoption of Randall

Reporters screened a scene from Season 2 that showed present-day Randall asking his mother Rebecca (Mandy Moore) about his adoption. Rebecca speaks about her initial reluctance about the whole idea.

--William isn’t going anywhere.

Though Randall’s biological father, William (played by actor Ron Cephas Jones), died in Season 1, he will continue to have a presence in the series.

“Characters exist in scenes happening at earlier times,” Fogelman said. “Ron is opening our season in our own way. ... Somebody dying in the show doesn’t affect things.”

--OK. So about Jack’s death -- answers are coming.

“If that is a question that has haunted people, over the course of the second season they will get all the answers they want,” Fogelman said.

He added that Season 2 would delve more deeply into who the family was before and after Jack’s death.

“There’s a lot of healing to be done,” Fogelman said. “We’ve painted a picture of the world’s perfect dad and husband. And now we’re going to show the struggle of being that guy and bring him to a fully realized place.”