When it returns to HBO for a second season, True Detective will feature three main characters. Show creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto revealed that key detail in an interview with To The Best of Our Knowledge. Those characters will be new to the show — true to its anthology format — with casting slated to kick off in the coming weeks. Anyone joining True Detective will have big shoes to fill as they set out to follow the stellar performances delivered by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in season one. The internet has already thrown out countless possibilities with the #truedetectiveseason2 hashtag, though most have taken the duo approach; now they'll need to dream up the ultimate trio.

Producers say True Detective 2 will have 3 leads. In which case... #TrueDetectiveSeason2 pic.twitter.com/0sZtAAT9Vj — Miles Kahn (@mileskahn) May 27, 2014

Pizzolatto also said that season two will take place in "lesser-known venues" of California, avoiding obvious settings like Los Angeles. True Detective used its environment to maximum effect in the first season, and Pizzolatto and his cohorts clearly plan to maintain that emphasis on surroundings the second time around. "The world itself is poison. There's something ruinous at work here. The poison at the root of the world is humanity," he said. In March, Pizzolatto hinted at what's to come in an interview with HitFlix, teasing that True Detective's sophomore season will be all about "hard women, bad men and the secret occult history of the United States transportation system."