Season 2 of 'Salem' Premieres April 5 on WGN America

WGN America released this first look photo from Salem Season 2.

WGN America has set the premiere date for the highly anticipated second season of its hit supernatural thriller Salem, which will make its return on Sunday, April 5 at 10 p.m. ET. The network also released the first-look photo from the new season of Salem, currently in production in Shreveport, LA for its 13-episode sophomore run, featuring recurring guest stars Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Spartacus) and Stuart Townsend (Betrayal, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman).

From creators and writers Brannon Braga (Cosmos, 24) and Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut), the second season of Salem opens at the dawn of the witch war set into motion at the end of season one, with its catalyst and Salem’s deadliest witch, Mary Sibley (Janet Montgomery, Made In Jersey, Human Target) at the center of the mayhem as she faces off against new and old adversaries vying for her throne. In the wake of the destruction caused by the Grand Rite, completed by Mary and inadvertently triggered by Isaac Walton (Iddo Goldberg, Mob City) in the season one finale, the fates of Captain John Alden (Shane West, Nikita, ER), Cotton Mather (Seth Gabel, Arrow, Fringe), Tituba (Ashley Madekwe, Revenge), Anne Hale (Tamzin Merchant, Jane Eyre), Mercy Lewis (Elise Eberle, The Astronaut Farmer) and Isaac hang in the balance.

New to the embattled 17th-century village for Season 2 are Lucy Lawless as Countess Marburg, one of the last descendants of a legendary line of ancient German witches; Stuart Townsend as Samuel Wainwright, a mysterious doctor looking to uncover the secrets of Salem as he keeps a few of his own; Joe Doyle (Raw) as Baron Sebastian Marburg, the charming and cultured son of the Countess; and Oliver Bell (The Saint) as Mary’s long-lost son, who was revealed in the season one finale to have been secretly kept alive all along by her coven.

Salem is a re-imagination of the Infamous 17th century witch trials in colonial Massachusetts.

Salem is executive produced by Brannon Braga, Adam Simon, Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson and Prospect Park’s Josh Barry and Jeff Kwatinez. Nick Copus directs and serves as co-executive producer. The series is produced by Fox 21.