A Santa-in-waiting and a Santa with a dark side are among the biggest additions in the upcoming season of The Santa Clauses, dropping November 8 on Disney+. The hit show starring Tim Allen is an engaging, comedic extension of the actor’s successful The Santa Clause films, creating a more deeply layered and textured Santa universe. The buzz is building on the season ahead after season two’s trailer revealed Santa’s son Cal was enduring Santa training and a “mad” Santa is on the loose. The actor who plays that role will no doubt become a fan favorite.

In addition to Allen, season two brings back the cast that helped make the show a hit — Elizabeth Mitchell (Mrs. Santa), Elizabeth Allen-Dick (Sandra Clause), Devin Bright (Noel), Austin Kane (Cal), and Matilda Lawler (Betty). Look for Modern Family favorite Eric Stonestreet to figure prominently this season. Jack Burditt (Modern Family, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) is the series’ executive producer and showrunner. Executive producer and director Jason Winer shared more about the season ahead in this exclusive MovieWeb interview.

Hello, Mad Santa
Disney+

Jason Winer has been at the helm of The Santa Clauses as an executive producer and director of the series since it debuted in 2022. Winer garnered an Emmy as a producer for Outstanding Comedy Series — and two more nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series — for his work on the super nova that was Modern Family. He has also worked on Single Parents, Life in Pieces, 1600 Penn, and the films Arthur and Ode to Joy.

Winer said the upcoming season of The Santa Clause holds many surprises. “I think people are going to be shocked to find Eric Stonestreet as the Mad Santa,” he beamed. “Obviously this is a villain that is alluded to in the first season. I don’t think at the time the first season was written, it was intending to set up the second season. It was just a joke… a kind of Game of Thrones reference, but people keyed in on it. They thought the Mad Santa was funny. There were lots of people online saying, ‘I wonder if we’ll meet that character?’”

Disney+

Simultaneously, Winer added, Eric Stonestreet had reached out to him and Burditt, expressing interest in being part of The Santa Clauses world. Winer and Stonestreet worked together on Modern Family, of course. “I think he’s always wanted to play Santa or a Santa. Jack and I both started to get excited by the idea of him in this role,” he went on. “His goal was to create a character that was yes, an effective and funny bad guy, a heavy for season two, but that also like a weirdly lovable Disney villain in the tradition of Cruella de Vil.”

Bottom line: The duo wanted to create a “villain” that kids could still want to hug, even if they were a little afraid. Not to be left out, look for actress Marta Kessler to turn heads as Mad Santa’s not-an-elf/maybe a gnome companion.

Related: The Santa Clause Franchise in Chronological Order and Order of Release

The Godfather Part II Connection
Disney+

Season two picks up with the Calvin family back at the North Pole after Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) decided to continue his role as Santa Claus after his retirement plans went south. Scott, as viewers recall, was looking for his perfect successor. Scott and his family having successfully saved Christmas, Scott decides to train his son Calvin (Austin Kane) to take over the family business, thereby making him the next Santa Claus. Elsewhere, Magnus Anta (The Mad Santa) appears and is ready to stake a claim for power.

Jason Winer says one of the most fun things about the upcoming season was being able to dig deeper into the history of the North Pole, pointing out that the franchise, which began with the first Santa Clause movie back in 1994, suggests a mythology around Santa. To that end, the production builds out the world of the North Pole this season — from what the village is like to how it sits relative to the Wobbly Woods. Additionally, there’s more offered regarding La Bafana’s (San Giacomo) cabin.

“When these were first brought to me, ‘I was like, what? And how? And who now?’ And now it’s all part of a really cool mythology that we get to stitch together,” Winer said, noting that for season two, “I thought to myself, ‘Well, this is kind of our sequel season, and what’s the most successful sequel, if you will, that dives into the history of the original subject matter?’ And to me, that was The Godfather: Part II. So, I took a lot of inspiration from The Godfather Part II for visual elements of the season, specifically all the flashbacks, which are the long, slow ’70s dissolve into the history of things.”

Related: Best Tim Allen Performances, Ranked

Also notable include the look of the encampment of the elves when they first moved to the North Pole to appear like Ellis Island (something familiar for any Godfather Part II fans). As for working alongside Tim Allen, who’s among the top TV stars of his generation, having helmed very popular shows like Home Improvement and Last Man Standing, and the Toy Story movie franchise, Winer is candid:

“There’s something genuinely good-natured about Tim that the audience connects to. He really is concerned about people, the crew, and every single person who works on the show. He gives speeches on set every day expressing such gratitude for the work. And it just speaks to the guy he is. I think it comes through in the character. He is genuinely at this phase in his life, a very happy family man. And that is at the core of the character too, and it’s something you can’t fake.”

Catch the fun in the new season ahead of The Santa Clauses on Disney+ beginning November 8.