This article has been updated to include the latest characters confirmed to appear. Beware, though, what you’re about to read contains POTENTIAL SPOILERS!
With A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 2 closer to hitting screens, details have emerged about the new characters we’ll see when the series starts up again in March. Here’s the lowdown on each new character, as detailed in the books by author Daniel Handler. The original article follows, which speculated on the characters we’d been expecting to turn up. The actors portraying them, along with some images, have been added to all those confirmed — including a certain Nathan Fillion.
Ms Tench
The gym teacher at Prufrock Preparatory School, Ms Tench — according to Vice Principal Nero in the books –“accidentally fell out of a third-storey window a few days ago”. Count Olaf takes over her role at the school, disguised as Coach Genghis, and it’s likely he’s responsible for her fall as he continues in his dastardly pursuit of the Baudelaire children. Ms Tench will be played by Bronwen Smith.
Mrs Bass
Another teacher at the school, Mrs Bass is keen on making students measure things, because she loves the metric system. She sets difficult tests for Violet and Klaus and eventually becomes a villain, turning against the Baudelaire children. She accuses them of robbing a bank — a crime she ends up arrested for. It’s possible she is responsible for stealing the children’s inheritance. Mrs Bass will be played by B.J. Harrison.
Hector
A handyman, Hector is frustrated by the long list of rules in the village in which he lives — two of which state that there should be no mechanical devices and no prohibited books. In Handler’s story, the character is secretly building a floating home made out of hot air balloons, which contravenes the laws of the village and in which he plans to flee. He is also hoarding a stash of banned books. Hector will be played by Ithamar Enriquez.
Kevin
Kevin is a member of the House of Freaks at Caligari Carnival, and is first seen in the ninth book in the series. His ‘unusual’ affliction is that he’s ambidextrous. He feels disadvantaged by what he sees as a malady, despite Violet Baudelaire telling him it’s a gift. He ultimately becomes one of Count Olaf’s henchmen. Kevin will be played by The Flash star Robbie Amell.
Hugo
Another member of the House of Freaks, Hugo‘s special quality is his hunchback. He’s recruited by Esmé Squalor as one of Count Olaf’s henchmen, alongside Kevin and Colette.
Colette
A contortionist plying her trade with the House of Freaks, Colette — like Kevin — sees her ability as an abnormality rather than a talent. She joins Count Olaf’s troupe.
Hal
Hal becomes the eighth — unofficial — guardian of the Baudelaire children. He’s a record keeper at a hospital, and has very poor eyesight.
Original article follows:
One of the things fans most love about A Series of Unfortunate Events is the array of colourful characters that populate the weird and wonderful Lemony Snicket universe. The successful Netflix series has done a brilliant job of bringing some of these to life.
Throughout Season 1, we saw some popular characters from the books make welcome appearances. These include Josephine Anwhistle, Justice Strauss, Dr. Georgina Orwell and Sir. All portrayed by some stellar acting talent – namely Alfre Woodard, Joan Cusack, Catherine O’Hara and Don Johnson, respectively.
We interviewed series producer Barry Sonnenfeld, who also directed four of the first season’s eight episodes: he told us that they’re planning to bring all 13 books to the small screen. The first season covered the first four books. Season 2 will cover the next five across 10 episodes with the final four books split across eight episodes in Season 3.
As the trailer for Season 2 drops and the release date is announced — March 30 — we take a timely look at which characters from the books we could see introduced to the series. And with Season 3 already greenlit, there will be even more to follow when the final season eventually hits screens.
Carmelita Spats
We were introduced to the Quagmire siblings in the finale of Season 1. But as we go into Season 2 and book number 5, The Austere Academy, which the first two episodes look set to focus on, we’re hoping that Carmelita Spats might make an appearance. The book covers the Baudelaire children’s time at Prufrock Preparatory School where they are sent to board, and where they meet the Quagmires.
This means that they might also run into Carmelita Spats, a nasty, mean little girl at Prufrock with a fine line in insults. She refers to the Baudelaires as “cake-sniffing orphans”. She is a spoiled child and is arrogant, rude and even violent, according to Lemony Snicket. Carmelita Spats will be played by Kitana Turnbull.
Vice Principal Nero
The vice principal at the school, Nero is a bad violinist who forces the students to watch him play on a nightly basis – six hours at a time. And if they fail to attend, he punishes them by making them buy him a big bag of sweets and watch him eat them. He’s a strict taskmaster who ties students’ hands behind their backs at mealtimes as another form of punishment.
He favours Carmelita Spats, and hates the Baudelaires. He expels the siblings for ‘cheating’ on their exams. Vice Principal Nero will be played by Roger Bart.
Mr Remora
Mr Remora is a teacher at Prufrock Preparatory School. His first love is bananas, which led directly to his retirement after he choked on one. He makes his students write tedious short stories which he then reads aloud in class. After his retirement, he was replaced by Kit Snicket, sister of Lemony and Jacques. Mr Remora will be played by Malcolm Stewart.
Jerome Squalor
Moving onto Episodes 3 and 4 which looks set to feature the plot from book six, The Ersatz Elevator, Jerome Squalor becomes a guardian of the Baudelaire children.
Though he is on the Baudelaires’ side, he doesn’t believe them when they try to tell him about Count Olaf. He is married to Esmé, who leaves him to join Count Olaf’s troupe. Jerome is trusting, and rich, and Esmé takes advantage of him. Jerome Squalor will be played by Tony Hale.
Esmé Squalor
Esmé is a key player in the Unfortunate Events universe. She is obsessed with fashion and status, and eventually gets into a relationship with Count Olaf. Who ends up leaving her because of her slavishness to fashion.
She is all about money and appearance, and what’s in fashion, even if that means turning to crime. At first, she refuses to take in the Baudelaire orphans because orphans are ‘out’ then declares she took them in because they’re now on-trend. She sees Carmelita Spats as a daughter figure and as a sort of mini-me, lavishing her with stylish gifts. Esmé Squalor will be played by Lucy Punch.
Jacques Snicket
Jacques is a member of the V.F.D., which stands for Volunteer Fire Department. And although its primary purpose is to put out fires, it’s actually a secret society that carries out humanitarian acts.
He is the elder brother of narrator Lemony Snicket, and twin to Kit. He wrote a couple of incendiary articles for The Daily Punctilio, the City’s main newspaper, about the truth behind a fire at the Royal Gardens.
He pops up only briefly in The Vile Village, where he is mistaken for Count Olaf. He is murdered by Olaf, who blames the Baudelaires for his death. Jacques Snicket will be played by Nathan Fillion.
Geraldine Julienne
A journalist at The Daily Punctilio, which largely deals in fake news. Geraldine is one of the chief originators of its erroneous stories. A fan of Esmé Squalor, she is behind headlines such as ‘Murderer Attempts to Murder Murderer’ and ‘Count Olaf Thinks Up Idea For Lion Show’.
She first appears in the eighth book, The Hostile Hospital, but is referenced before this in its predecessor, The Vile Village, when the Baudelaires read her newspaper articles.
Olivia Caliban
Cropping up in the ninth book, The Carniverous Carnival, Olivia Caliban is a fraudulent fortune teller at Caligari Carnival, which she is also the proprietor of.
She is also the Baudelaires’ ninth guardian. Calling herself Madame Lulu, she gets fortune-seekers to close their eyes while she researches the answers to their questions.
Count Olaf consults Madame Lulu to track down the Baudelaires and seems to believe in her psychic abilities. Olivia Caliban will be played by Sara Rue.
There are plenty more characters from the next five books that could make an appearance – and beyond that another four books worth of material to draw from. We’re excited to see where the series will go next, which characters will appear and which actors will feature. But in the meantime, if you haven’t yet caught the first season, all eight episodes are currently available on Netflix.
This article was originally published on February 2, 2017. It has been updated to include trailers and release date news for Season 2 as well as confirmed character details.