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Check out the “Your Friends & Neighbors” Season 2 Official Teaser.

It’s time for Paradise to enter the real world.

When the Hulu drama returns for its second season, Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) is leaving the bunker behind to find his wife. And the show is leaving season 1 behind for something … different. “Our second season was always intended to be a bit of a departure,” showrunner Dan Fogelman says of his three-year plan for the story.

“I keep reminding myself to stick to the plan, because sometimes the plan can be a little scary,” Fogelman continues. “There’s a moment where you go, ‘Wow, people are really enjoying this show in this world and we’re gonna be going to different worlds and different areas. And that’s a scary moment where you check yourself a little bit, but we tried to execute the plan that we always had, the plan that I pitched to Sterling when I first told him what the three seasons were gonna be. And we stuck with that.”

One thing that was always part of the plan? James Marsden’s return. Although his character, Cal Bradford, was killed in season 1, that didn’t stop him from appearing in flashbacks — and it won’t stop him in season 2 either.

“I have had roles for him in mind both in the second and third season as a way that he can play a part in the story,” Fogelman says, noting how his last series provided helpful experience with flashbacks.

“Coming off of This Is Us for so long and knowing how it works when you’re dealing with shows that deal in time and when you have beloved characters in them, there are ways when you have flashbacks where, if it’s not moving the plot forward, it can move somebody’s character forward. And it keeps them in the ether of the show. So that was something that was always on my mind with James. I knew people were gonna love him in it.”

While Marsden serves as a familiar face, season 2 will also bring in some new characters, including Shailene Woodley and Thomas Doherty. “We have a first episode of the show that is very different,” Fogelman says. “Shailene Woodley really carries the first episode in such an unbelievable way.”

As for Doherty, he’ll come into the fold through Woodley’s character’s story. “He holds a lot of keys and connection to the whole story,” Fogelman teases. “Episode 1 tells the story of Shailene’s character and how basically she survives the apocalypse and he’s a character who initially crosses with her, but he has other roles in the story that develop as the show goes on. He’s mysterious and he’s super romantic. He’s also super complicated and you learn why as the season goes on.”

Although it’s unclear just how they’ll connect with Xavier, one thing is certain: Xavier’s plane is not looking good. For the former Secret Service agent, Fogelman says the story picks up “just hours” after the season 1 finale. “It’s a bumpy ride,” Fogelman says with a laugh.

So what will Xavier find when he quite literally crashes into the outside world? “When I first pitched the show, I joked that there’s going to be a lot of elements in a post-apocalypse show that have a lot of heart and humanity, like it’s going to be a really delightful apocalypse,” Fogelman says. “That was obviously an exaggeration. You need conflict. But we talk a lot in our writers’ room about the experience of the pandemic and how, amidst all the horror in our neighborhoods, it was a lot of people coming together, and so that’s a place we tend to live more. I think that our apocalypse will feel uniquely ours.”

One thing it certainly won’t have in common with a few other popular post-apocalyptic shows? “There’s definitely no zombies,” Fogelman says. “But it was always the intention for the show to get a little bit more sci-fi as we went along, and the second season starts opening up those doors more.”

That’s not to say that the bunker will be left behind completely. Let’s not forget that Xavier’s kids are in Jane’s (Nicole Brydon Bloom) very dangerous hands. And then there’s the matter of what’s next for mastermind Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson). “In terms of the bunker story, it’s more about a place coming apart at the seams and social uprising and all that comes with it,” Fogelman says.

So, another bumpy ride.

The season as a whole, however, is one that Fogelman hopes is less bumpy. “I think the show is both different in the second season, but also the same because a lot of the same feeling is there, hopefully,” he says.

“It was interesting with this particular show because this is a show built on a lot of mysteries, almost all of which were solved by the end of the first season,” Fogelman continues. “Multiple characters who existed in the first season of the show who people really responded to are dead. And so the very nature of the show doesn’t allow you to repeat the first season. And now the looming questions are different: What is it out there? Is Xavier’s wife alive? These are questions that really weren’t the primary questions driving the first season of the show, but now are the primary questions driving the second.”

Paradise season 2 premieres Monday, Feb. 23, on Hulu.

When This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman first approached James Marsden about playing the president of the United States on a new TV series, Marsden was lukewarm. “I just didn’t see myself doing that,” the actor says. “I’ve done that once before on The Butler, and felt like I was too young.” Then Fogelman explained that Paradise’s Cal is a complicated president: a hard drinker, a man with secrets, and, most importantly, someone who “doesn’t really want to be in that position,” says Marsden. “He was sort of shoehorned into the career of politics by his overbearing father, and that immediately just sounded interesting to me.”

Marsden’s Cal is killed in the first episode of Paradise. The series follows his secret service agent (Sterling K. Brown) as he tries to figure out who murdered the president and why. The first episode also reveals a major twist: After an apocalyptic event, the remaining survivors are living in a city-sized underground bunker in Colorado, funded by a billionaire (Julianne Nicholson).

Though Cal dies right away, the show uses flashbacks to reveal what exactly happened to him—giving Marsden a lot of juicy material. The role required the sort of versatility Marsden has become known for in the projects he’s been making for decades, including HBO’s sci-fi Westworld and Netflix’s dark comedy Dead to Me. Both of those shows should have earned him Emmy nominations, but he was first recognized only last year for the bold comedy series Jury Duty. Now he’s up for Paradise as well. “I feel like the bar’s set too high,” says Marsden with a smile. “Only way to go from here is down.”

Marsden spoke to Vanity Fair about playing dead men, if he’ll appear in season two of Paradise, and what it’s been like to step back into his X-Men suit for the new Avengers movie.

Vanity Fair: You didn’t get all the scripts at the beginning of production. Did Dan Fogelman walk you through all the reveals, and how Cal died?

James Marsden: I had two questions: One, how close are we to this happening in real life? And two: I’m dead the first time you see me. What’s this going to look like? He reassured me that the whole season is told in flashback leading up to that day, and the audience is left trying to solve what’s going on and who was responsible. So he gave me some ideas of where it was going to go, but he was still deliberately vague about certain things—mainly because he just wanted it all to be a surprise to me. With TV, you don’t always know where it’s going to go, so you have to have a lot of faith in the people that you’re working with and the minds of the writers. The first episode really struck a big chord in me, and in that first episode, I was allowed to have a good time–he was drinking and singing Phil Collins songs. And then there were moments where you see him really carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

What was the answer to the first question, how close are we to this happening?

He said, “Well, closer than you might think.” He cited a few examples of billionaires that are building bunkers right now. We’re definitely inching towards it. Just me, myself as a human being walking this earth and noticing all the differences taking place in the world and geopolitics and global warming and all of these things—every day you hear about what’s next in war and global warming and all these things happening after COVID.

The story is about a billionaire who is influencing the president. That part didn’t feel so far away from reality.

The hierarchy of power is shifting. The billionaire tech has become government. I don’t want to say that statement with vehement certainty, but these are ideas that we explore. And that’s really what the show is more about: It’s not political. It’s about power dynamics.

Did you take inspiration from real-life presidents or other leaders?

Dan mentioned he’s a little bit of [John F.] Kennedy. He’s a little bit of [Bill] Clinton. He is a little bit of [Barack] Obama , and even a little George W. [Bush] here and there. But instead of taking a blueprint from an actual president, it was little nuances from each one and really having creative license to blaze our own trail.

You’ve said that you felt like this character pulled from a lot of performances throughout your career.

If I look at my career, I’ve been very fortunate to play in all these different genres. I’ve done some really ridiculous comedies, and I’ve done some very serious work. And I think with Cal, you do see this amalgamation. I mean, there’s probably no Hairspray in him. I actually made that joke to Dan and he said, “There’s moments where you’re actually singing in this.” There’s a very sort of youthful spirit to him. He likes to have fun. I also think that’s a bit of his intelligent cover. He leads with that to disarm everybody in the room, set everyone at ease

You’ve said before that you like being a character actor. But I assume there was a time where you could have gotten pigeonholed playing those sorts of charming, leading man roles.

I’m not sure. I’m not sure it was a conscious decision to voluntarily go against that casting stereotype of a good-looking guy. I did see a lot more of those roles early on that didn’t feel very satisfying to me. Exploring real character was the thing that was behind my decision-making when I chose to do certain projects. I guess I never saw myself as that leading-man guy. I know that that sounds like false modesty, but it’s true. Even from when I was young and goofing around in drama class and doing musicals in high school, I gravitated towards messed-up characters—whether it be from a comedic standpoint or dramatic. I love playing a guy who thinks he’s got it all made, and he thinks he’s the leading man, but everything else about him is clearly not. I always felt like I was more suited to supporting roles that had some interesting quirks.

Season two of Paradise has been filming.

They are filming. They’re close to being done, I think.

Are you back in some little ways?

I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say. Even though my vague answer to your question is probably the answer to your question. It’s funny—when the show came out, I had a little deja vu. Because when I did this show Dead to Me, I meant to sign on for one season, play this kind of asshole character, and then be done. The show came out, everyone loved it, and I thought, it’s too bad it’s over. And [creator Liz Feldman] was like, “maybe it doesn’t have to be. Maybe we will bring you back somehow.” And I was a twin.

And so when this show came out, and it was a huge success, I had the same kind of feeling. I told Dan, “Geez, I guess I’m really dead.” And he said, “yeah. Sadly, we can’t bring you back.” He said, “if you would’ve told me you were going to be this good, I would’ve figured something out at the end of the first season.” And then it became even bigger because of the seventh episode, and then I got a text from Dan going, “well, maybe you aren’t dead.” I don’t want to give false hope here that I’m somehow alive, but maybe we can figure something out.

Speaking of characters coming back to life, you’re currently filming Avengers: Doomsday. Is it strange to revisit Cyclops after such a long time?

I’m getting a little long in the tooth to put on the superhero costume. [Laughs.] I was excited because you’re a part of something gigantic, and I’ve spent 20 years listening to people say, “when are you coming back? When are you coming back? Are you coming back?” I’m dead. Well, maybe not. I’m going to have a tough time struggling to get into costume if they waited a couple more years. So it’s been a blast. It really has. It’s been a nice little homecoming to a role that really put me on the map. It was the first real event project that I was ever a part of, and a very beloved character, this icon from the comics. And so to step back into that role was pretty special.

James Marsden is done lamenting over just being a “snack” — he’s ready for the world to know he’s the whole entire meal.

In a new campaign for Dunkin’, Marsden, 51, stares up at the sky in his convertible, thinking about how people consider him a “snack.” He worries that the world can’t see his real worth, despite his “noble” feats, including dressing up as a volunteer fireman for Halloween.

A Dunkin’ employee interrupts Marsden’s inner monologue, reminding the actor that he’s at the drive-thru before handing over his $6 meal deal. The employee explains that he did not order just a snack, but a whole meal.

“It looks like we’re in a therapist’s office and getting to have some fun with that, making fun of ourselves a bit,” Marsden exclusively tells PEOPLE of the commercial. “It’s always exciting to me when I see a brand that I’ve known forever start to get really creative and playful with their content. And I just love it when big companies like this, you have a sense of humor.”

Marsden stars in the campaign alongside fellow Hollywood heartthrobs Charles Melton, Tramell Tillman, Gavin Casalegno and Dylan Efron. The spot even features a cameo from comedian Zarna Garg. All the actors have similar existential crises in the drive-thru lane.

The commercial highlights Dunkin’s new May offerings launching, which include a $6 meal deal featuring a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich, hash browns and a medium hot or iced coffee.

Dunkin’ guests can also try a medium Dunkin’ Refreshers (including the new Tropical Guava Dunkin’ Refresher) with a choice of Lemonade or sparkling water for just $3 all day.

Other new standout menu offerings include an Iced Strawberry Lemon Loaf topped with strawberry icing and a Pistachio Signature Latte, available hot or iced.

Those who are familiar with some of Marsden’s most notable roles — such as playing an exaggerated version himself in Jury Duty or as the ever-aloof Prince Edward in Enchanted — know that the actor has a penchant for drumming up the over-the-top and the humorous. This spot was no different.

“I never really take things too seriously,” he admits. “And I think when people take what we do too seriously, it becomes like, ‘Come on, man.’ You know what I mean? I love what I do, and I take it very seriously, but in a fun way, I guess. And I feel like the more we can poke fun at ourselves, the more that we can show that we’re not doing super serious work. I just enjoy that.”

As for Marsden on whether or not he really believes he’s “a snack,” he recalls a moment fellow actor and Ma star Octavia Spencer taught him what the slang term meant while at a press junket.

“We passed each other in the hallway, and I was wearing a suit, and she’s like, ‘You look clean, you look good, you look like a little snack,” he laughs. “I’ll take that. That’s a compliment!”