While critics are debating superhero fatigue, I’ve been nursing a mean case of Ryan Murphy malaise for several years now. And yet, upon seeing the promos for the long-awaited Feud season 2, I cannot help but want it blasted into my eyeballs right now.
The first season of Feud, which premiered way back in 2017, focused on the rivalry between Hollywood stars Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange). It was and remains—along with the first season of American Crime Story—one of the better products stamped with Murphy’s name. Six years later, Feud is finally returning in January 2024 with a second installment, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.
FX has dropped a full official trailer for the series, which bills the ladies as “the original housewives,” giving you an idea of the vibe. Sex, lies, gossip, ladies lunching—Feud season 2 has it all.
Feud: Capote vs. the Swans centers on famous author Truman Capote and his relationships with various women among New York’s elite whom he affectionately nicknamed “the swans.” The author himself is absent from the previously released teaser:
Playing Capote in the series is Tom Hollander, who memorably appeared in the second season of The White Lotus as one of the gays trying to kill Jennifer Coolidge. As for the swans, Naomi Watts is playing Barbara “Babe” Paley, Diane Lane as Slim Keith, Chloë Sevigny as C.Z. Guest, and Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill (who also happened to be Jackie Kennedy’s sister). Capote v Swans: Dawn of Justice also stars Demi Moore as Ann “Bang-Bang” Woodward, Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson, the late Treat Williams as Bill Paley, Joe Mantello as Jack Dunphy, and Russell Tovey as John O’Shea.
The other bit of exciting news is the reveal of this season’s directors: Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, Elephant), Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena, daughter of David), and Max Winkler (whose TV credits include Minx, Lady Dynamite, and Casual).
Here’s the official plot description of Feud part deux from FX:
Acclaimed writer Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) surrounded himself with a coterie of society’s most elite women – rich, glamorous socialites who defined a bygone era of high society New York – whom he nicknamed ‘the swans.’ Beautiful and distinguished, the group included grande dame Barbara “Babe” Paley (Naomi Watts), Slim Keith (Diane Lane), C.Z. Guest (Chloë Sevigny) and Lee Radziwill (Calista Flockhart). Enchanted and captivated by these doyennes, Capote ingratiated himself into their lives, befriending them and becoming their confidante, only to ultimately betray them by writing a thinly veiled fictionalization of their lives, exposing their most intimate secrets. When an excerpt from the book, Answered Prayers, Capote’s planned magnum opus, was published in Esquire, it effectively destroyed his relationship with his swans, banished him from the high society he so loved and sent him into a spiral of self-destruction from which he would ultimately never recover.
And here’s a look at the full promotional poster, featuring the so-called swans posing with black swans:
Feud: Capote vs. the Swans is based on the book Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era by Laurence Leamer. The eight-episode limited series was written by Jon Robin Baitz, playwright and creator of the network drama Brothers & Sisters.
The first two episodes of the series will premiere on FX on January 31, with an extended director’s cut of the first episode simultaneously airing on FXX. New episodes will air weekly on FX before streaming on Hulu the next day.
(featured image: FX)
