Gina Rodriguez seems to be everywhere right now — and so will her character in Netflix's Carmen Sandiego. The animated show, in which Rodriguez voices the titular thief, gives the iconic video game character a globe-trotting, series-long adventure. So far, it's unclear if Carmen Sandiego will return for Season 2, but either way, Rodriguez won't be finished with mysterious woman in red.
While many '90s kids will best remember the character from the game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Carmen first appeared in a 1985 computer video game. Since then, she's been part of an educational franchise with more than 20 video games and four TV shows. In the Netflix series, viewers will get to learn about Carmen's origin story and see a more heroic side to the world-traversing burglar. According to the streaming hub's 2017 announcement, Carmen Sandiego has been ordered for 20 episodes at 22 minutes each. However, there's reason to believe those 20 episodes will be split across two seasons.
Netflix has a number of animated programs for children and most have seasons that consist of 10 to 13 episodes. There are some exceptions — like the first season of Guillermo del Toro's Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, which was 26 episodes long — but typically, Netflix seasons are capped at around 12 or 13 episodes, max. So even though Entertainment Weekly noted in its 2018 preview of Carmen Sandiego that the series will be 20 episodes, it's likely only 10 will be released when it premieres on Jan. 18.
What that means is that while there hasn't been an official announcement from Netflix, a second season is coming. Gina Rodriguez confirmed that herself. After the game-changing Season 4 finale of Jane the Virgin, Rodriguez was on the Backstage podcast In the Envelope. And when asked about Carmen Sandiego, she explained that they had already finished Season 2. (You can hear her discuss it in the below video at the 9:05 mark.)
After that, it's unclear how long Carmen Sandiego will keep going, but don't fear, gumshoes! Rodriguez will continue playing the World's Greatest Thief outside of the show. As announced in March 2018, she'll also portray Carmen in a live-action movie for Netflix. She told Backstage that they hadn't begun working on the film as of May 2018, which makes sense considering that Rodriguez has been busy with projects like the final season of Jane the Virgin and the movies Miss Bala and Someone Great. But the Carmen Sandiego movie is a priority for Rodriguez since she's also producing the project.
As Time reported, Rodriguez was the one to pitch the idea of a live-action film to Netflix after voicing Carmen. She will produce the movie through her I Can and I Will production company, whose mission is "to create art that tells stories from the unheard and unseen, discover and expose new talent, and increases empathy and understanding for all communities." But along with helping to expand representation on-screen, she also wants to play Carmen IRL just for the thrill. "I want to rappel out of a helicopter," she told Time. "Tom Cruise, what's up?"
So no matter when Carmen Sandiego Season 2 premieres, or if the series continues beyond that, there will be plenty more places that Carmen and viewers will travel to and learn about after Jan. 18.
