Netflix has unveiled which killer, or killers,Ryan Murphywill cover with Season 2 of his smash hit anthology seriesMonster. Aftertopping the streamer’s chartsby tackling the story ofJeffrey Dahmerand his victims, he’ll turn to a pair of brothers forMonsters: The Lyle and Erik MenéndezStory. This will mark the first of two new installments to the true crime anthology whichNetflix ordered back in November.
The case ofLyle and Erik Menéndezbecame a media sensation back in 1993 when Court TV aired their murder trial. In 1989, the brothers brutally shot and killed their parents in their home, initially escaping suspicion from the police by claiming they had stopped back home after a night out. Over the next several months, they started using their father’s fortune to live the high life until they tripped up and confessed their crimes to a therapist whose messy personal life ultimately brought them down as well. Through multiple trials, theirsoap opera-like storycaptivated America as the brothers made claims of not just emotional abuse, but sexual abuse at the hands of their father that drove them to murder. They were finally convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Murphy’s series won’t be the first time the Menéndez brothers' case has made it back to television. In the years following the case, a number of documentaries and special presentations examining the case and the lives of the brothers in prison were released. CBS and Lifetime have also aired dramatic adaptations of the case. One of the more recent takes, however, came fromLaw & Orderwhich tackled the murders, the investigation, and the multiple grueling trials in the eight-episodeLaw & Order True Crime: The Menéndez Murdersin 2017. It even managed to score an Emmy nomination forEdie Falcowho played the brothers' star attorneyLeslie Abramson.
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The Lyle and Erik MenéndezStoryShould Be a Departure FromDahmer
The nature of the case behindThe Lyle and Erik MenéndezStorymeans the series should be structured quite differently thanMonster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Where the first outingtried to spotlight the victims, toquestionable degrees of success and morality, Season 2 could focus on the complicated nature of the Menéndez murders and the brothers' reasoning behind their actions. In recent years, Lyle and Erik have received a surprising groundswell of support on social media as younger generations have re-examined the case, making it all the more timely to reopen the book on the murders.
Murphy will re-team with hisDahmerpartnerIan Brennanfor this new case, and they’ll get some help from Netflix which currently has access to the brothers for an upcoming documentary feature. They’ll have to go a long way to beat the overwhelming success of their last series, however.Dahmerlives in rarefied air for a Netflix property, becoming one of only four series on the platform tocrack 1 billion hours viewed within 60 days. It’s also earned plenty of acclaim for its stars including NAACP Image Award and Critics Choice Award wins forNiecy Nash-Bettsand a Golden Globe forEvan Peters.
Stay tuned here at Collider for more onMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Storyas work continues. Check out the announcement video below.
